Tom Wesselmann - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session New York Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | Phillips

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale,...

New York Auction 15 November 2023

  • Provenance

    Private Collection, New York
    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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176

Tom Wesselmann

Two works: (i) Study for Reclining Nude; (ii) Study for Nude Lying Back

(i) inscribed and dated by The Estate of Tom Wesselmann "D92132 1992" on the reverse
(ii) signed, titled, inscribed and dated by Claire Wesselmann, the Executor of The Estate of Tom Wesselmann "D9284 THE ESTATE OF TOM WESSELMANN, Claire Wesselmann, EXECUTOR STUDY FOR NUDE LYING BACK D9284 1992" on the reverse
(i) Liquitex on Mylar on board
(ii) pencil and Liquitex on Bristol board
(i) 13 x 20 1/8 in. (33 x 51.1 cm)
(ii) 13 1/4 x 15 1/4 in. (33.7 x 38.7 cm)
Executed in 1992.

Estimate
$25,000 - 35,000 

Sold for $60,960

Contact Specialist

Annie Dolan
Specialist, Head of Sale, Morning Session
+1 212 940 1288
adolan@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session

New York Auction 15 November 2023