Claes Oldenburg

Claes Oldenburg transformed everyday objects into monumental public sculptures, like a giant clothespin, challenging perceptions with wit and scale.

ABOUT

Born in Stockholm in 1929, Claes Oldenburg became a Swedish-born American sculptor renowned for his public art installations featuring colossal replicas of ordinary items. His journey began with studies at Yale University and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, before moving to New York City in 1956. There, he encountered artists like Jim Dine and Allan Kaprow, who were exploring alternatives to Abstract Expressionism through happenings and theatricality. Oldenburg q…

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NOTABLE WORKS

Proposed Colossal Monument for the Battery, NYC - Vacuum Cleaner, View from Upper Bay 1965 · Art Institute of Chicago Light Switches–Hard Version, Replica (Brown) 1969 · Art Institute of Chicago Hats Vesuvius 1973 · Art Institute of Chicago Pat Standing in a Radish Patch 1959 · Whitney Museum of American Art Diagonal Girl Against the Flag 1960 · Buffalo AKG Art Museum Soft Calendar for the Month of August 1962 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art

See all of Claes's works in Art Whisper

INFLUENCES

Influenced by

Jim DinePop Art Red GroomsPop Art

Influenced

Frank GehryArchitecture