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Almine Rech

The estate of Tom Wesselmann

Tom Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 23, 1931. He attended Hiram College in Ohio from 1949 to 1951 before entering the University of Cincinnati. In 1953, his studies were interrupted by a two-year enlistment in the army, during which time he began drawing cartoons. He returned to the university in 1954 and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1956. During this time, he decided to pursue a career in cartooning and so enrolled at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he was accepted into the Cooper Union and where his focus shifted dramatically to fine art. He received his diploma in 1959.


Wesselmann became one of the leading American Pop artists of the 1960s, rejecting abstract expressionism in favor of the classical representations of the nude, still life, and landscape. He created collages and assemblages incorporating everyday objects and advertising ephemera in an effort to make images as powerful as the abstract expressionism he admired. He is perhaps best known for his great ‘American Nude’ series with their sensuous forms and intense colors. In the 1970s, Wesselmann continued to explore the ideas and media which had preoccupied him during the 1960s. Most significantly, his large ‘Standing Still Life’ series, composed of free standing shaped canvases, showed small intimate objects on a grand scale.


In 1980, Wesselmann now using the pseudonym Slim Stealingworth, wrote an autobiography documenting the evolution of his artistic work. He continued exploring shaped canvases (first exhibited in the 1960s) and began creating his first works in metal.


He instigated the development of a laser-cutting application, which would allow him to make a faithful translation of his drawings in cut-out metal. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the artist expanded these themes, creating abstract three dimensional images that he described as “going back to what I had desperately been aiming for in 1959.” He had indeed come full circle. In his final years, he returned to the female form in his ‘Sunset Nudes’ series of oil paintings on canvas, whose bold compositions, abstract imagery, and sanguine moods often recall the odalisques of Henri Matisse.

Wesselmann worked in New York City for more than four decades. He lived in New York City with his wife, Claire, daughters Jenny and Kate, and son Lane. He died there on December 17, 2004.


- The Estate of Tom Wesselmann

Selected artworks

  • Tom Wesselmann, Man Ray at the Dance, 2004

    Tom Wesselmann Man Ray at the Dance, 2004

    Oil on canvas
    248.9 x 188 cm
    98 x 74 in

  • Tom Wesselmann, Smoker #27, 1980

    Tom Wesselmann Smoker #27, 1980

    Signed bottom right on side
    Oil on shaped canvas
    283.2 x 363.2 cm
    111 1/2 x 143 in
    © 2020 The Estate of Tom Wesselmann / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
    © Jeffrey Sturges

  • Tom Wesselmann, Rosemary Reclining with Motherwell, 1990

    Tom Wesselmann Rosemary Reclining with Motherwell, 1990

    Enamel on cut-out steel
    73,7 x 213,4 cm
    29 x 84 in
    © The Estate of Tom Wesselmann / Licensed by VAGA, New York

  • Tom Wesselmann, Nancy (with Flowers and Choker), 1984

    Tom Wesselmann Nancy (with Flowers and Choker), 1984

    Liquitex on Bristol board
    157.5 x 123.2 cm
    62 x 48 1/2 in
    © Nicolas Brasseur 

  • Tom Wesselmann, Still Life with Daffodil, Rose and Green Plate, 1985

    Tom Wesselmann Still Life with Daffodil, Rose and Green Plate, 1985

    Liquitex on Bristol board
    145.4 x 182.9 cm
    57 1/4 x 72 in

  • Tom Wesselmann, Claire Nude with Blue Stockings, 1968

    Tom Wesselmann Claire Nude with Blue Stockings, 1968

    Signed lower right
    Pencil and thinned liquitex on board
    28.3 x 36.8 cm
    11 1/8 x 14 1/2 in

  • Tom Wesselmann, Sunset Nude with Matisse Odalisque, 2003

    Tom Wesselmann Sunset Nude with Matisse Odalisque, 2003

    Oil on canvas
    304,8 x 254 cm (framed)
    120 x 100 in (framed)
    © Jeffrey Sturges

  • Tom Wesselmann, Still Life with Fuji Chrysanthemums (Double Layer), 1985/92

    Tom Wesselmann Still Life with Fuji Chrysanthemums (Double Layer), 1985/92

    Alkyd on cut-out steel
    152,4 x 190,5 cm
    60 x 75 in

Videos

  • In conversation: Tom Wesselmann / Brenda Schmahmann, Julian Solms and Jeffery Sturges

Gallery exhibitions

Museum exhibitions

Selected press

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