Tom Wesselmann - New Now New York Wednesday, March 3, 2021 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
    Fontana Gallery, Narberth
    Private Collection
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Artist Biography

    Tom Wesselmann

    American • 1931 - 2004

    As a former cartoonist and leading figure of the Pop Art movement, Tom Wesselmann spent many years of his life repurposing popular imagery to produce small to large-scale works that burst with color. Active at a time when artists were moving away from the realism of figurative painting and growing increasingly interested in abstraction, Wesselmann opted for an antithetical approach: He took elements of city life that were both sensual and practical and represented them in a way that mirrored Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol's own methodologies.

    Wesselmann considered pop culture objects as exclusively visual elements and incorporated them in his works as pure containers of bold color. This color palette became the foundation for his now-iconic suggestive figurative canvases, often depicting reclining nudes or women's lips balancing a cigarette.

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102

Maquette for Bedroom Painting #32

signed, titled, inscribed and dated "'76 -25 MAQUETTE FOR BEDROOM PTG #32 WESSELMANN 1976-79 Wesselmann 79 ©" on the reverse
oil on canvas laid on Masonite, on Liquitex on board, on enameled Masonite construction, in Plexiglas box
sculpture 9 x 16 1/8 x 6 1/2 in. (22.9 x 41 x 16.5 cm)
base 1 3/4 x 21 1/8 x 10 1/2 in. (4.4 x 53.7 x 26.7 cm)
overall 10 3/4 x 21 1/8 x 10 1/2 in. (27.3 x 53.7 x 26.7 cm)

Executed in 1976–1979.

Estimate
$40,000 - 60,000 

Sold for $69,300

Contact Specialist

Patrizia Koenig
Associate Specialist, Head of New Now Sale
20th Century & Contemporary Art pkoenig@phillips.com

New Now

New York Auction 3 March 2021