Picture "Study for Sunset Nude with Matisse" (2002) (Unique piece)
Picture "Study for Sunset Nude with Matisse" (2002) (Unique piece)
Quick info
unique piece | signed | dated | ink and coloured pencil on paper | framed | size 37 x 41 cm
Detailed description
Picture "Study for Sunset Nude with Matisse" (2002) (Unique piece)
The ink and coloured pencil drawing "Study for Sunset Nude with Matisse" served as the basis for the large-format painting of the same name. Against an abstract-looking background, which results from a composition of different polychrome colour areas, the young, nude woman almost seems to float. The shimmering background outlines the contours of the woman, emphasising her central role in the picture.
"I don't depict nudes for sociological, cultural or emotional reasons. My only motivation is to keep finding new ways to create exciting paintings that utilise the situation of the traditional nude," said Tom Wesselmann, summarising his artistic intention.
Ink and coloured pencil on tracing paper, 2002, signed and dated. Motif size/sheet size 8.9 x 10.7 cm. Size in frame 37 x 41 cm as shown.
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About Tom Wesselmann
1931-2004
Along with Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann played a significant role in shaping the art history of the 20th century as one of the outstanding representatives of Pop Art.
Wesselmann's subject matter targets a central area of modern society: the world of the cult of sex and stardom, strikingly displayed through advertising and visual media. His works make creative use of the methods of advertising and illustrated magazines and draw attention to them.
He became known in 1961 with his female nude "Great American Nude", the title of which became the generic term for a series that caused horror among art critics and connoisseurs. In contrast to other artists of his genre, who deal with consumer goods ironically and critically, for Wesselmann, the aesthetic view is paramount. He stages his female nude models in elaborate interiors, in front of gathered curtains and plump fruit bowls. Wesselmann's strikingly erotic motifs are even more provocative due to the often faceless models, whose sexual characteristics are emphasised by tan lines, for example.
In his first nudes, Wesselmann's future wife, Claire, posed as his model. But, from the early 1980s onwards, it was Monica Serra, whom he had met at the opening of one of his exhibitions and who also became his assistant. Wesselmann's works from this period are comparable to the tradition of classical nude painting from Titian to Manet to Matisse and Picasso, which he quotes in some of his works.
Today, Tom Wesselmann is among the classics of modern art, whose independent style is characterised by the aesthetics of abstract expressionism within the motif framework of a striking pop theme.
A one-of-a-kind or unique piece is a work of art personally created by the artist. It exists only once due to the type of production (oil painting, watercolour, drawing, lost-wax sculpture etc.).
In addition to the classic unique pieces, there are also the so-called "serial unique pieces". They present a series of works with the same colour, motif and technique, manually prepared by the same artist. The serial unique pieces are rooted in "serial art", a genre of modern art that aims to create an aesthetic effect through series, repetitions, and variations of the same objects or themes or a system of constant and variable elements or principles.
The historical starting point is considered to be Claude Monet's "Les Meules" (1890/1891), where, for the first time, a series was created that went beyond a mere group of works. The other artists, who addressed to the serial art, include Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian and above all Gerhard Richter.