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Label Text "Clothespins are a necessity for me. With clothespins I join parts of soft sculptures in preparation for sewing. Clothespins also hold parts together while the glue is setting. They are the instruments of connection which are so important in the fabrication of my work. ... My studio is full of clothespins. ..." The clothespin theme has also found expression in numerous drawings, prints, bronze multiples and a soft version made of canvas as well as the Art Center's original painted cardboard version. Source:DMAC Bulletin, March-April 1981
Exhibition History"Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology," National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Feb. 12 - May 7, 1995; (Circulated to: Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, June 25 - Sept. 10, 1995; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Oct. 7, 1995 - Jan. 21, 1996; Kunst-und Austellungshalle de Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany, Feb. 15 - May 12, 1996; Hayward Gallery, London, England, June 6 - Aug. 19, 1996)

"Selected Cowles Family Gifts to the Permanent Collection," Des Moines Art Center, July 30 - Sept. 11, 1994

"F-111 and American Pop Images," Des Moines Art Center, Nov. 13, 1993 - Jan. 30, 1994

"High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture," The Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., Oct. 3, 1990 - Jan. 15, 1991; (Circulated to: The Art Institute of Chicago: Feb. 20 - May 12, 1991; The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, June 21-Sept. 15, 1991)

"Pop Art and Image," organized and circulated by Artrain, Detroit

"Signs of the Times," organized and circulated by Artrain, Detroit, MI; (Exhibition was circulated to twenty-one locations in four states: thirteen locations in Michigan, six locations in Indiana, one location in Missouri, one location in Nebraska)

"Drawing Now," Tel Aviv Museum, Israel, Organized by the Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., May 15 - June 30, 1977

"Oldenburg: 6 Themes: Evolution From Sketch to Metal," Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Apr. 6 - May 25, 1975; (Circulated to: Denver Art Museum, June 28 - Aug. 24, 1975; Seattle Art Museum, Sept. 29 - Nov. 9, 1975)

"Claes Oldenburg: Object into Monument," Pasadena Art Museum, Dec. 7, 1971 - Feb. 6, 1972; (Circulated to: Berkeley, University Art Musuem, Feb. 28 - Apr. 9, 1972; Kansas City, Nelson - Atkins Gallery, May 11 - June 18, 1972; Fort Worth Art Center Museum, July 10 - Aug. 20, 1972; DMAC, Sept. 18 - Oct. 29, 1972; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Nov. - Dec., 1972; Art Institute of Chicago, Jan. - Feb., 1973)

"Claes Oldenburg," Museum of Modern Art, New York, Sept. 22 - Nov. 23, 1970; (Circulated to: Amsterdam, Stedelijk Musuem, 1970; Dusseldorf, Kunsthalle, 1970; London, Tate Gallery, June 24 - Aug. 16, 1970)

"SubjectObject," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, July 6, 2001 - September 30, 2001

"Sweet Dreams, Baby! Pop Art from the Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, November 2003

"MCM - Y2K: A Century of Art on Paper," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, December 11, 1999 - February 13, 2000

"Style of the Times: The 1960's," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, May 1, 1998 - June 28, 1998

"American Pop: The Work of Art in the Post-Industrial Age," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, July 14, 1990 - August 26, 1990
Published ReferencesClaes Oldenburg, PROPOSALS FOR MONUMENTS AND BUILDINGS 1965 - 69, Big Table Publishing Co., Chicago, 1969, ref. p.165, color ill. pl. no.46, p.131

Gene Baro, Intro., CLAES OLDENBURG - DRAWINGS AND PRINTS, Chelsea House Publishers, London, 1969, no.366

Barbara Rose, CLAES OLDENBURG, Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., 1970, color ill. p.121

Albert Vanstaen, "In de Lunchroom van Claes Oldenburg," TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR ARCHITECTUUR EN BEELDENDE KUNST, jaargang 37, 1970, pp.18 - 20, ill. p.20

Barbara Haskell, CLAES OLDENBURG: OBJECT INTO MONUMENT, Pasadena Art Museum, CA, 1971, color ill. p.67

DMAC Bulletin, Sept./Oct. 1972, cover ill.

H.W. Janson, with Dora Jane Janson, HISTORY OF ART: A Survey of the Major Visual Arts from the Dawn of History to the Present Day, second edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc. and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ & N. Y., 1977, colorplate no.141, p.718

DMAC Bulletin, Mar./Apr. 1981, ill.

Duane and Sarah Preble, ARTFORMS: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE VISUAL ARTS, third edition, Harper & Row, Publishers, N. Y., 1985, color ill. fig. no.128, p.126

Christopher Finch, AMERICAN WATERCOLORS, Abbeville Press, N. Y., 1986, p. 261, cat. no.352, color ill. p.273

Howard Smagula, ART TODAY, sixth edition, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, N. Y., 1986

AN ARTS FOUNDATION COURSE A102 ILLUSTRATION BOOKLET, The Open University Library, Milton Keynes, England, 1987, ref. & b/w ill. p.59

THE MAGIC GALLERY: Pop Art, Educational Video, Inc., 1989

Jack A. Hobbs & Robert L. Duncan, ART, IDEAS AND CIVILIZATION, Colman & King Ltd., Prentice-Hall, N. J., 1989, b/w ill. p.474, ill. no.11.28

Duane & Sarah Preble, ARTFORMS, fourth edition, Harper and Row, Publishers Inc., N. Y., 1989, colorplate 145, p.120

Kirk Varnedoe & Adam Gopnik, HIGH AND LOW: Modern Art and Popular Culture, The Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., 1990, exh. cat. color ill. p.352, no.183

Joachim Kellner & Werner Lippert, WERBE FIGUREN, GESCHOPFE DER WARENWELT, Deutsches Wervemuseum e.V., 1991, color ill. p.200

Gallery Guide for "F-111 and American Pop Images," Des Moines Art Center, 1993

CLAES OLDENBURG: AN ANTHOLOGY, Guggenheim Museum & National Gallery of Art, Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1995, color ill. p.279

Kate F. Jennings, AMERICAN WATERCOLORS, Brompton Books, Random House, N. Y., 1995, color ill. p.23

Erika Langmuir, POCKET GUIDES: LANDSCAPE, National Gallery Publications Ltd., London, 1997, fig.77, b/w ill. p.79

Peter Broers, et al, eds., ELDORADO: INTERNATIONALE LITERATUUR VOOR DE TWEEDE FASE, Meulenhoff Educatief, Amsterdam, 1998, b/w ill. p.124

Libby Lumpkin, ed. "The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: Impressionist and Modern Masters". The Bellagio Gallery: Las Vegas, 1998. Pg.217

Gene Mittler & Rosalind Ragans, EXPLORING ART, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, N. Y., Columbus, OH, Woodland Hills, CA, Peoria, IL, 1999, figs.8-11, color ill. p.152

Mittler & Howze, CREATING AND UNDERSTANDING DRAWINGS, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, Woodland Hills, CA, 2000, p.184

Anne Monahan, "The Luther W. Brady Collection at the Paicker Art Gallery, Colgate University", Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, 2007, color ill. pg.65

Éric Valentin,"Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen: Le Grotesque contra le Sacré", Éditions Gallimard, 2009, pg. 75

Michael Darling and Joanna Szupinska, "Skyscraper: Art and Architecture Against Gravity", Museum of Contemporary Art. Chicago, 2012. color ill. pg.80, checklist pg.107

"Claes Oldenburg: The Sixties", Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, 2012, color ill. pg.187





















DimensionsSheet: 22 × 27 in. (55.9 × 68.6 cm)
Sight: 22 × 23 1/4 in. (55.9 × 59.1 cm)
Accession Number 1972.11
Classificationswork on paper
Copyright
SignedCO 67 (l,r)
InscriptionsMich Ave. (l,l graphite) Chicago (l,r graphite)
ProvenanceArtist; (Sidney Janis Gallery, New York); Charles Cowles, New York [acquired from the previous, by 1972]; Des Moines Art Center [partial gift of the previous and purchase from the prior, 1972]
Late Submission to the Chicago Tribune Architectural Competition of 1922: Clothespin (Version Two)
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines