
© Claes Oldenburg
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Claes Oldenburg
American, born Sweden, 1929
Wedding Souvenir, 1966
plaster of paris
overall: 6 5/8 x 2 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches (16.8275 x 5.715 x 14.9225 cm)
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Gift of James Elliott, 1982
1982:48.1
More Details
Provenance
from the artist to private collection, Santa Monica, California, 1966;donated to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, October 1982
Class
Work Type
This information may change due to ongoing research. Glossary of Terms
In a recent New York Times article, Claes Oldenburg talks about his earliest inspiration to create works of art, recalling the graffiti that popped up in his 1950s New York neighborhood and in “garbage containers made out of burlap.” Oldenburg hails from an early group of artists—along with Jim Dine, Red Grooms, and Allan Kaprow—who looked to the dirt and muck of the streets for inspiration during a time when Abstract Expressionism still had a stronghold on New York. While he would never truly depart from these initial sources of inspiration, in the 1960s Oldenburg began to place a strong emphasis on commonplace objects — food, clothing, and appliances are only a few examples of what one might encounter in his sculptures.
Wedding Souvenir presents two of the nearly two hundred slices of cake Oldenburg created over time as wedding gifts for friends. The artist plays with our perception by creating a work that—in scale, shape, and consistency—sharply contrasts with the actual function of a piece of wedding cake. This work and Ice Cream Being Tasted are faithful reminders of Oldenburg’s approach, as these usually soft and delicious desserts, which initially appear real and palatable, are actually composed of hard, inedible plaster. The contrast Oldenburg establishes here, as striking as it is humorous, is manifested in many different ways in the artist’s work. Wedding Souvenir also communicates the notion that an artwork can be mass-produced and, therefore, more accessible.
Label from Sweet Dreams, Baby! Life of Pop, London to Warhol, May 31–September 8, 2013
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Notes
,- Wedding Souvenir ,
- Untitled (Cigarette Butts) ,
- Letter Tenement ,
- Diagonal Girl Against the Flag ,
Untitled (Moving Sculpture) from Notes
,Untitled (Barr Monument) from Notes
,- Untitled (Dropped Ice Cream Cone Oil Derrick) from Notes ,
Untitled (Drum Set in the Valley) from Notes
,Untitled (City As Alphabet) from Notes
,- Untitled (Body Buildings) from Notes ,
Untitled (Kneeling Building, Skate Monument) from Notes
,Untitled (Proposed Monument for Kassel) from Notes
,Untitled (War Memorial P.O.P.) from Notes
,- Untitled (New Pasadena Museum) from Notes ,
Untitled (Punch Bag) from Notes
,Untitled (Geometrical Mouse) from Notes
,Pile of Erasers
,- Glace en dégustation (Ice Cream Being Tasted) ,
- Soft Manhattan #1 (Postal Zones) ,