Claes Oldenburg 1 Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg Birth name Claes Oldenburg Born January 28, 1929Stockholm, Sweden Nationality Swedish-American Field Sculpture, Public Art Training Latin School of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University Movement Pop Art Claes Oldenburg (born January 28, 1929) is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. Biography Claes Oldenburg, Soft Bathtub (Model)—Ghost Version 1966, acrylic and pencil on foam-filled canvas with wood, cord, and plaster. Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC Claes Oldenburg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of a Swedish diplomat stationed in New York. In 1936 his father was transferred to Chicago where Oldenburg grew up, attending the Latin School of Chicago. He studied at Yale University from 1946 to 1950, then returned to Chicago where he took classes at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While further developing his craft, he worked as a reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He also opened his own studio and, in 1953, became a naturalized citizen of the United States. His first recorded sales of artworks were at the 57th Street Art Fair in Chicago, where he sold 5 items for a total price of $25. [1] He moved back to New York City in 1956. There he met a number of artists, including Jim Dine, Red Grooms, and Allan Kaprow, whose Happenings incorporated theatrical aspects and provided an alternative to the abstract expressionism that had come to dominate much of the art scene. The most memorable aspects of Oldenburg's works are perhaps, the colossal sculptures that he has made in partnership with his late wife, Coosje van Bruggen. Sculptures, though quite large, often have interactive capabilities. One such interactive early sculpture was a soft sculpture of a tube of lipstick which would deflate unless a participant re-pumped air into it. In 1974, this sculpture, Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, was redesigned in a sturdier aluminum form, the giant lipstick being placed vertically atop tank treads. Originally installed in Beinecke Plaza at Yale, it now resides in the Morse College courtyard. Many of Oldenburg's large-scale sculptures of mundane objects elicited public ridicule before being embraced as whimsical, insightful, and fun additions to public outdoor art. In the 1960s he became associated with the Pop Art movement and created many so-called happenings, which were performance art related productions of that time. The name he gave to his own productions was "Ray Gun Theater". His first wife -(1960–1970) Pat Muschinski who
Transcript
Claes Oldenburg 1
Claes Oldenburg
Claes OldenburgBirth name Claes Oldenburg
Born January 28, 1929Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality Swedish-American
Field Sculpture, Public Art
Training Latin School of Chicago,Art Institute of Chicago,Yale University
Movement Pop Art
Claes Oldenburg (born January 28, 1929) is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typicallyfeaturing very large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everydayobjects.
Biography
Claes Oldenburg, Soft Bathtub (Model)—GhostVersion 1966, acrylic and pencil on foam-filledcanvas with wood, cord, and plaster. Hirshhorn
Museum, Washington, DC
Claes Oldenburg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of aSwedish diplomat stationed in New York. In 1936 his father wastransferred to Chicago where Oldenburg grew up, attending the LatinSchool of Chicago. He studied at Yale University from 1946 to 1950,then returned to Chicago where he took classes at The School of theArt Institute of Chicago. While further developing his craft, he workedas a reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He also opened hisown studio and, in 1953, became a naturalized citizen of the UnitedStates. His first recorded sales of artworks were at the 57th Street ArtFair in Chicago, where he sold 5 items for a total price of $25.[1] Hemoved back to New York City in 1956. There he met a number ofartists, including Jim Dine, Red Grooms, and Allan Kaprow, whoseHappenings incorporated theatrical aspects and provided an alternativeto the abstract expressionism that had come to dominate much of theart scene.
The most memorable aspects of Oldenburg's works are perhaps, thecolossal sculptures that he has made in partnership with his late wife,Coosje van Bruggen. Sculptures, though quite large, often haveinteractive capabilities. One such interactive early sculpture was a soft
sculpture of a tube of lipstick which would deflate unless a participant re-pumped air into it. In 1974, this sculpture,Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, was redesigned in a sturdier aluminum form, the giant lipstick beingplaced vertically atop tank treads. Originally installed in Beinecke Plaza at Yale, it now resides in the Morse Collegecourtyard.
Many of Oldenburg's large-scale sculptures of mundane objects elicited public ridicule before being embraced as whimsical, insightful, and fun additions to public outdoor art. In the 1960s he became associated with the Pop Art movement and created many so-called happenings, which were performance art related productions of that time. The name he gave to his own productions was "Ray Gun Theater". His first wife -(1960–1970) Pat Muschinski who
sewed many of his early soft sculptures, was a constant performer in his happenings. This brash, often humorousapproach to art, was at great odds with the prevailing sensibility that, by its nature, art dealt with "profound"expressions or ideas. But Oldenburg's spirited art found first a niche then a great popularity that endures to this day.Between 1969 and 1977, Oldenburg was in a relationship with the feminist artist and sculptor, Hannah Wilke, whodied in 1993.[2] They shared several studios and traveled together, and Wilke often photographed him.Oldenburg's collaboration with Dutch/American writer and art historian Coosje van Bruggen dates from 1976. Theywere married in 1977.[3] In 1988, he and van Bruggen created the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture for theWalker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota that remains a staple of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden as well as aclassic image of the city.In addition to freestanding projects, they occasionally contribute to architectural projects, most notably the formerChiat/Day advertising agency headquarters designed by Frank O. Gehry in the Venice district of Los Angeles,California—the main entrance is a pair of giant binoculars. The advertising agency DDB is the current tenant.Another well known construction is the Free Stamp in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. This Free Stamp has an energeticcult following.In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.[4]
In 2001, Oldenburg and van Bruggen created 'Dropped Cone', a huge inverted ice cream cone, on top of a shoppingcenter in Cologne, Germany.[5]
His wife died on January 10, 2009 from the effects of breast cancer.Claes Oldenburg supposedly has a work of art on the moon in the Moon Museum.Claes Oldenburg is represented by The Pace Gallery in New York.
Gallery
TypewriterEraser, Scale X,
by ClaesOldenburg and
Coosje vanBruggen
1999, paintedstainless steeland Fiberglas
National Galleryof Art,
Washington,DC.
Free Stamp, outside City Hall inCleveland, Ohio. Claes
Oldenburg and Coosje vanBruggen, Painted steel-plate
1985 (unveiled in 1991).
Crusoe Umbrella byClaes Oldenburg andCoosje van Bruggen,1979, Cor-Ten steel
painted withpolyurethane enamel.Public art located inNollen Plaza, Des
Moines, Iowa.
Clothespin byClaes
Oldenburg,1976. Public artdisplayed nearPhiladelphiaCity Hall in
Spring by Claes Oldengurg inCheonggyecheon, Seoul, Korea
The Bottle of Notessculpture in
Middlesbrough UK.
Dropped Coneby Claes
Oldenburg andCoosje van
Bruggen, 2001.Situated on topof a shoppingcentre in the
Neumarkt areaof Cologne,Germany.
Pencil signature of ClaesOldenburg from 1990.
Books• Busch, Julia M., A Decade of Sculpture: the New Media in the 1960s (The Art Alliance Press: Philadelphia;
Associated University Presses: London, 1974) ISBN 0-87982-007-1• Axsom, Richard H., Printed Stuff: Prints, Poster, and Ephemera by Claes Oldenburg A Catalogue Raisonne
1958–1996 (Hudson Hills Press: 1997) ISBN 1-555951-23-6• Oldenburg, Claes Raw Notes: Documents and Scripts of the Performances: Stars, Moveyhouse, Massage, The
Typewriter, with annotations by the author. (The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design: Halifax,2005) ISBN 0-919616-43-7
• Gianelli, Ida and Beccaria, Marcella (editors) Claes Oldenburg Coosje van Bruggen: Sculpture by the WayFundació Joan Miró 2007
• Valentin, Eric, Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen. Le grotesque contre le sacré, Paris, collection Art etartistes, Gallimard, 2009. ISBN 978-2-07-078627-5
References[1] David McCracken, "The Art Fair That's Been In the Picture the Longest", Chicago Tribune, June 5th, 1987, page 3[2] Nancy Princenthal, Hannah Wilke, Prestel Publishing, New York[3] "Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen: Biographies" (http:/ / oldenburgvanbruggen. com/ biography/ bios-individual. htm).
OldenburgVanBruggen.com. . Retrieved 13 April 2011.[4] Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts (http:/ / www. nea. gov/ honors/ medals/ medalists_year. html#00)[5] http:/ / www. oldenburgvanbruggen. com/ largescaleprojects/ droppedcone. htm Dropped Cone
External links• Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's website (http:/ / www. oldenburgvanbruggen. com/ )• The Pace Gallery (http:/ / thepacegallery. com)• Claes Oldenburg (http:/ / www. moma. org/ collection/ artist. php?artist_id=4397) at the Museum of Modern Art• Oldenburg page at the Guggenheim Museum site (http:/ / www. guggenheimcollection. org/ site/ artist_bio_121.
html)• An anthology of Oldenburg's work, includes brief bio (http:/ / artnetweb. com/ oldenburg/ index. html)• National Gallery of Art Claes Oldenburg: Making the Ordinary Extraordinary (http:/ / www. nga. gov/
