Striding Figure - from "Conspiracy: The Artist as Witness" portfolio

Claes Thure Oldenburg

Claes Oldenburg, the Swedish-born American Pop artist known for his monumental sculptures of everyday objects, died on July 18, 2022 at his home and studio in the SoHo section of Manhattan. He was 93.

This Abstract Expressionist image was originally created in 1962 as a black and white poster for a performance by the Aileen Passloff Dance Company on January 20, 1962. It is listed as Number 21 in "Printed Stuff: Prints, Posters and Ephemera by Claes Oldenburg : A Catalogue Raisonné‚ 1958-1996" by Claes Oldenburg, Richard H. Axsom, David Platzker. New York / Madison, NY / WI : Hudson Hills Press / Madison Art Center, 1997, pp. 80.

Oldenberg later published a limited edition of 150 for publication in the portfolio "Conspiracy: The Artist as Witness", a portfolio created by thirteen printmakers to help fellow artist Pearl Hirshfield raise funds for the Chicago Seven, who were on trial for their anti-war actions at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. This impression is a proof, outside of the published edition, printed by Styria Studio in New York. Included in the portfolio were Alexander Calder, Larry Poons, Jack Beal, Romare Bearden, Leon Golub, Nanacy Spero, Robert Morris, Peter Saul, Raphael Sawyer, Frank Stella, Bridget Riley, and Sol Lewitt.

Sculptor, painter, and printmaker Claes Thure Oldenburg was born in Stockholm on January 28, 1929. His father Gosta was a Swedish diplomat in the United States, stationed first in New York and then in Chicago, where the family joined him in 1936. It was there that Oldenburg attended the Latin School of Chicago, and developed an interest in the arts.

From 1946 to 1950 Oldenburg studied literature and art history at Yale University. Upon his return to Chicago he enrolled in courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and worked as a reporter at the City News Bureau. He soon opened a studio, enjoying his first art sales at the 57th Street Art Fair. In 1953 became a naturalized citizen of the U.S.

Oldenburg moved to New York in 1956, where he would continue his studies at, as well as take a position at the library of, the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration. Oldenburg was drawn to the works of contemporaries Jim Dine, Red Grooms, and Allan Kaprow, artists who were not attempting to fit into the Abstract Expressionist genre that dominated the art world at the time. At this point Oldenburg began taking an interest in soft sculpture, using pliable materials such as paper and fabric to create everyday objects. His first show of drawings and soft sculptures took place in 1959 at the Judson Gallery, to critical acclaim.

As Pop art and the concept of "happenings" began to take form in the 1960s, Oldenburg found his niche in both visual and performance art, founding his own production company, "Ray Gun Theater". In addition to the work he created for exhibition, he also began using printmaking to create posters for fellow artists in the performing arts world. Oldenburg moved to Los Angeles in 1963, searching for what he called "the opposite of New York". It wasn't long before his sculptures, now in steel, concrete, and other solid materials, took on the monumental proportions he became known for, with oversized shuttlecocks, ice cream cones, and other everyday objects gracing the ground of museums, estates, and university and corporate campuses. In addition to the work he created on the West Coast, he continued to exhibit and perform In New York as well as abroad. In 1970 he met curator and artist Coosje van Bruggen, who would eventually become his artistic collaborator and wife.