Tom Wesselmann - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale London Wednesday, October 3, 2018 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Irving Luntz (acquired directly from the artist in 2001)
    Sotheby's, New York, 15 May 2014, lot 233
    Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

  • Exhibited

    Chicago International Art Exposition, Tom Wesselmann: Steel Cutouts, 9 -14 May 1991, cat. no. 3, n.p (illustrated)
    La Jolla, Tasende Gallery, Tom Wesselmann: Steel Cutouts, 9 May - 24 August 1991, cat. no. 3, n.p (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    ‘My original idea, that began the cut-outs, was to preserve the process and immediacy of my drawings from life, complete with the false lines and errors, and realise them in steel. It was as though the lines had just been miraculously drawn in steel. At the same time, I pursued another idea – to make tiny, very fast doodles, which I would then enlarge in cut-out metal, preserving the feel and spontaneity of the tiny sketch…' - Tom Wesselmann

  • 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

212

Bedroom Blonde Doodle (Variation)

incised with the artist's signature and dated 'Wesselmann '89' on the reverse
enamel on cut-out aluminium
155.2 x 192.4 cm (61 1/8 x 75 3/4 in.)
Executed in 1989.

Estimate
£180,000 - 250,000 

Sold for £237,000

Contact Specialist
Tamila Kerimova
Specialist, Head of Day Sale
+ 44 20 7318 4065
tkerimova@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 4 October 2018