Tom Wesselmann - Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale London Friday, March 7, 2025 | Phillips

Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 7 March 2025

  • Provenance

    The Estate of the Artist
    David Janis Fine Art, New York (acquired from the above in 2010)
    Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2012

  • 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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154

Tom Wesselmann

Monica Sitting, Arm on Knee (Gray)

signed, titled and dated 'N6G TOM WESSELMANN 1985/90 MONICA SITTING, ARM ON KNEE (GRAY) Wesselmann 90 Wesselmann 90' on the reverse
enamel on laser cut steel
137.3 x 89.9 cm (54 x 35 3/8 in.)
Executed in 1985-1990.

This work is included in the Tom Wesselmann Digital Corpus published by the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, under registration number N6G.

Estimate
£60,000 - 80,000 

Sold for £88,900

Contact Specialist

Simon Tovey
Director, Head of Day Sale, London
+44 7502 428 688
stovey@phillips.com

Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 7 March 2025