Label Text
Claes Oldenburg’s innovative approach to sculpture stemmed from his fascination with material and consumer culture. In his sculptural models, drawings, and prints, he proposed enlarging ordinary objects, such as fire hydrants and clothespins, into buildings and monuments to be set in public spaces. In 1967,Oldenburg Michigan Avenue Chicago Oldenburg ’s hypothetical contest entry, but for the 45-foot version eventually erected in Philadelphia Oldenburg Des Moines is the home of two of Oldenburg ’s monumental sculptures: Crusoe’s Umbrella, 1979, stands in Nollen Plaza
Exhibition History"Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology," National Gallery of Art, 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 (Show continued to Europe without this piece))
"Sweet Dreams, Baby! Pop Art from the Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, November 2003
"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 References"Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology," exhibition catalogue, Guggenheim Museum & National Gallery of Art, Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1995, color ill. p.384
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. pp.167 & 169, b/w ill. pl.106, p.168
DMAC Bulletin, Mar./Apr. 1981, b/w cover ill.
"Call It Something Else", Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, 2023, color ill. p.146, p. 250, list of images (DMAC credit)
Oldenburg was born in Stockholm in 1929, the son of a Swedish diplomat who was assigned to Chicago in 1936; it was there that the artist grew up and went to school. He pursued his art studies at Yale University and at the Art Instutute of Chicago. Within a few years after moving to New York in the mid 1950s, he had gained international recognition as one of the most creative and innovative artists of his generation.
Source: Bulletin, March-April, 1981.
Claes Oldenburg’s innovative approach to sculpture stemmed from his fascination with material and consumer culture. In his sculptural models, drawings, and prints, he proposed enlarging ordinary objects, such as fire hydrants and clothespins, into buildings and monuments to be set in public spaces. In 1967,
Exhibition History"Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology," National Gallery of Art, 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 (Show continued to Europe without this piece))
"Sweet Dreams, Baby! Pop Art from the Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, November 2003
"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 References"Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology," exhibition catalogue, Guggenheim Museum & National Gallery of Art, Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1995, color ill. p.384
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. pp.167 & 169, b/w ill. pl.106, p.168
DMAC Bulletin, Mar./Apr. 1981, b/w cover ill.
"Call It Something Else", Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, 2023, color ill. p.146, p. 250, list of images (DMAC credit)
DimensionsOverall: 48 1/2 × 6 3/4 × 16 1/2 in. (123.2 × 17.1 × 41.9 cm)
Accession Number 1980.31
Classificationssculpture
Copyright© Claes Oldenburg
SignedCO 74 (on base at viewer's right)
ProvenanceArtist. (Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis); Mrs. E.T. Meredith Jr., Des Moines [acquired from the previous]; Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 1980]
