Tom Wesselmann: American Friends of Centre Pompidou Acquisition

The American Friends of the Centre Pompidou has acquired a significant collection of drawings, comprising 35 works created between 1960 and 2004, offering a rare overview of Wesselmann’s graphic practice across four major phases of his career. The group includes pencil drawings from the early 1960s for the Great American Nudes; colored pencil studies from the early 1980s for the Dropout Bedroom Paintings; large brushed-ink drawings from the late 1980s related to the cut-out metal paintings; and small colored pencil drawings for his final series, the Sunset Nudes. Together, these works illuminate the sustained importance of drawing in Wesselmann’s artistic process and underscore his enduring legacy within the history of American Pop art.

Image 1
Tom Wesselmann
Nude Drawing: Hetty, 1962
signed lower right
pencil and thinned Liquitex on paper
30.2 x 22.9 cm
11 7/8 x 9 in

Image 2
Tom Wesselmann
Study for Bedroom Painting #59, 1983
conte crayon and thinned liquitex on rag paper
102.2 x 151.1 cm
40 1/4 x 59 1/2 in