Pop Artists: Oldenburg, Nesbitt, and Segal

U1980.2.2

Lowell Nesbitt (American, 1933-1993)

Oldenburg’s Studio, 1972

Serigraph, 97/100

14.5” H x 17.5" W

The Dr. Jacob Joseph and Bernice Fox Weinstein Collection, Gift of Mrs. Bernice Fox Weinstein in memory of her husband, U1980.2.2

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Pop artist Claes Oldenburg (Swedish-born American, b.1929) received critical acclaim in the art world for his larger-than-life sculptures of everyday objects, many done as public commissions. At the same time, artist Lowell Nesbitt emerged as a well-regarded painter and printmaker, whose move from abstraction to realism was infuenced by his friend Robert Indiana. He is best known for his oversized flowers, but also did a series of paintings and prints of studio interiors of fellow artists.

Nesbitt’s 1972 serigraph offers a view into Oldenburg’s cluttered workspace that features an array of his oversized sculptures, including a large soft fan on the left wall and a large soft black wall plug hanging from the ceiling. His first wife (1960–1970) Patty Mucha sewed many of his early soft sculptures. These objects depicted here may be Oldenburg’s Giant Soft Fan – Ghost Edition (1967) and Giant Three-Way Plug (1970). A large rigid trowel leans agaist a wall at the right, possibly Trowel I (1971), which was a commission for the grounds of the Kröller-Müller Museum, where he met his future second wife (1977-2009) and collaborator, Coosje van Bruggen.

The use of another artist’s studio as subject matter illustrates Pop artists’ clear interest in the work of their contemporaries. The Pop Art movement stressed the interconnectedness of the world, and this print illustrates that extension into the realm of the arts. Nesbitt’s work also demonstrates the Pop Art movement’s concern with the everyday, specifically pertaining to the artist.

  • Sarah Williamson, ‘18
2012.19.1

George Segal (American, 1924-2000)

Gazing Woman (from An American Portrait 1776-1976), 1975

Published by Transworld Art, 132/175

White resin relief cast

25 3/4" H x 19.5" W x 3.75" D

Gift of the Drs. Spencer and Bevely Tucker, 2012.19.1

George Segal created sculpture by wrapping models in dry plaster orthopedic bandages to form a hollow body cast, which he then placed within tableaux of everyday scenes made of found objects. Like other Pop artists of the time, Segal’s work reflected aspects of daily life. However, his art distinctly expressed more personal themes and was not as concerned with popular culture. He was, rather, concerned with humanist ideas and social issues, including the Holocaust, Gay Liberation, and Civil Rights.

Segal began creating fragmented bodies and partial human figures in 1969 after creating mostly full body castings. Gazing Woman, a wall relief, was made by his new two-stage technique using the inner surface of his cast. The work is part of the 1975 An American Portrait series, which probably addressed the issue of women’s rights and gender roles. The figure, seen from the back, is cropped at the middle section with her arms tight against her body. The defining curves and smooth texture of the torso emphasize sensuality objectified by a man’s greedy gaze.

  • Mamie Smith, '18
Pop Artists: Oldenburg, Nesbitt, and Segal