Tom Wesselmann - The Estate of Mrs. Harry N. Abrams New York Wednesday, April 7, 2010 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Sydney Janis Gallery, New York (label on reverse)

  • Literature

    Institute of Contemporary Art 30

  • Catalogue Essay

    ‘In 1962 the Janis Gallery organized the first major Pop Art exhibition. Part of the show was held in an empty store opposite our office on 57th Street. I remember my first feeling of skepticism and surprise when I first saw the work. On the following days I stopped by during lunch to look again, and with each succeeding visit my interest grew and I bought my first Pop Art painting before the exhibition closed. (The Harry N. Abrams Family Collection, The Jewish Museum, Introduction by Sam Hunter, 1966)

  • 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.

    View More Works

74

Nude

1970
Liquatex, acrylic and collage, on oval-shaped chip board.
6 1/8 x 8 5/8 in. (15.6 x 21.9 cm).
Signed, titled, materials listed, dated and numbered `#3/40' in black marker on the reverse.

Estimate
$8,000 - 12,000 

Sold for $52,500

The Estate of Mrs. Harry N. Abrams

7 April 2010
New York