Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) was an American painter who worked in painting, collage, and sculpture. His colorful works, influenced by fauvism and abstractionism, are great examples of the pop art genre.
Wesselmann (Wikipedia.org)
Psychology and Cartooning
Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati. He attended Hiram College in Ohio from 1949 to 1951, then enrolled at the University of Cincinnati. His studies were interrupted by enlistment in the army. There he began drawing cartoons. Having returned to the university in 1954, Wesselmann focused on psychology and achieved a bachelor’s degree two years later. At that time, Wesselmann decided to develop his drawing skills to make a career in cartooning and enrolled at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
San Francisco Nude with Green Wallpaper, 1959 mixed media and collage on board 6-5/8 x 9-3/4 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Little Bathtub Collage #2 1960 mixed media and collage on board 7-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
From Cartoons to Fine Art
After graduation from the Academy, Wesselmann moved to New York City and was accepted there into the Cooper Union, which still exists and specializes in architecture and engineering. There, his interests shifted from cartooning to fine art. This change of artistic focus resulted in his leadership in the Pop Art movement of the 1960s.
Great American Nude #1 1961, mixed media and collage on board 48 x 48 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
The 1960s
Like many representatives of the Pop Art genre, Wesselmann created works incorporating everyday objects. His bright-colored paintings are close in their vividness to abstract expressionism, which he much admired. Great American Nude is his best-known series of that period. Here Wesselmann was undoubtedly inspired by avant-garde painters such as Matisse with his intense colors.
Great American Nude #8 1961
mixed media and collage on board
48 inches in diameter (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Great American Nude #29 1962
mixed media and collage on board
36 x 48 inches
Great American Nude #35 1962
mixed media, collage and assemblage on board
48 x 60 x 2 inches
Sydney & Francis Lewis Collection, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Great American Nude #48 1963
oil and collage on canvas, acrylic and collage on board, enameled radiator and assemblage (including window illumination)
84 x 108 x 34 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Great American Nude #52 1963
acrylic and collage on board
60 x 48 inches
Berardo Collection (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Great American Nude #57 1964
acrylic and collage on board
48 x 65 inches
Whitney Museum of American Art (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Great American Nude (blogspot.com)
The 1970s
In the next decade, Wesselmann continued working with the ideas and media he used in the 1960s. The most significant works of these years were his large Still Life paintings representing different objects in an expressionist advertising style. Another remarkable series was the famous “Bedroom Paintings,” depicting naked bodies and genitalia blended in the interior. “Landscape” and “Seascape” series demonstrate the evolution of the artist in terms of media usage and approach to depicting things. Canvases changed their shapes and lines. Every painting became a piece of a puzzle of the world beyond the canvas.
Bedroom Painting #19 1969
oil on canvas
64 x 90 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Bedroom painting (blogspot.com)
Bedroom Painting #11 1969
oil on canvas
54 x 67 inches (wordpress.com)
Bedroom Painting #26 1972
oil on shaped canvas
75-1/8 x 102-3/8 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Bedroom painting oil on shaped canvas
Bedroom Tit Box 1968-70
oil, acrylic, assemblage and live breast
6 x 12 x 8 1/2 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Seascape #27. Almine Rech Gallery (cloudfront.net)
Girl eating a banana, Almine Rech Gallery (artrabbit.com)
Face #1 (blog.daum.net)
Seascape (Tit), 1967
Screenprint on paper
18 × 18 in
45.7 × 45.7 cm (moma.org)
Seascape #23, 1967 (dreamtheend.com)
Seascape #10 1966
molded Plexiglas painted with gripflex
44-1/2 x 58-1/2 x 1-3/4 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Slim Stealingworth
In the 1980s, Wesselmann took the pseudonym Slim Stealingworth and wrote an autobiography documenting his artistic development. While continuing to explore shaped canvases, the painter began working with metal panels to make his paintings more dimensional. Having published an account on his creative evolution, Wesselmann didn’t stop expanding artistic possibilities and exploring new ways of depicting reality. In the 1990s, he produced images using 3-d technologies, which he described as going back to what he had desperately been aiming for in 1959.
Bedroom Painting #60 1983
oil on masonite and steel
80-3/4 x 117-1/2 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Seascape Dropout (1980s), incollect.com
Bedroom Painting #71 1983
oil on shaped canvases
90 1/2 x 101 inches (tomwesselmanestate.org)
Bedroom Painting #67 1983
oil on shaped canvas
94-1/4 x 60 inches (tomwesselmanestate.org)
Great American Nude #88 (blogspot.com)
Vivienne 1985
enamel on cut-out aluminum
82 inches (diameter) (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Monica Nude with Matisse (Var #1) 1987
enamel on cut-out aluminum
57 x 92 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Monica in Robe with Wesselmann 1992
alkyd on cut-out aluminum
69 x 53 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Monica and Matisse Interior with Phonograph (3-D) 1988/93
oil on cut-out aluminum
71 x 47 x 3 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Blue Nude Drawing oil on canvas (10/29/99) 1997/99
oil on canvas
48 x 64 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
The 2000s
In the later years, Wesselmann returned to the female form and also produced a number of abstract works on metal panels. His abstract nudes of the 2000s, which combine 3d figures and shaped canvases, became a manifestation of all discoveries he made during his career as the pop art leader. Wesselmann’s works are exhibited in the USA and England and can be found in many collections all around the world. The latest monograph on Wesselmann’s “Great American Nudes” was released in 2020 by Susan Davidson and The Estate of Tom Wesselmann.
Curled Up Blue Nude 2001
oil on canvas
49 x 55 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Blue Nude #21 2001
oil on cut-out aluminum
74 x 69 x 8 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
Foursome 1998
oil on cut-out aluminum (3 sections)
101 x 158 x 7 inches (tomwesselmannestate.org)
And, last but not least, our favorite sensual series “The Smoker” (1970s)
More information on this artist you can find at tomwesselmannestate.org.
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