The Modern Artists Cafe

 

Claes Oldenburg

by T. J.

This is an artwork done in the style of Claes Oldenburg, done by TJ.

Needle shows a needle in a spool of blue thread. Approximate height is 2-1/2 feet. Media used included a baseball bat, tin foil, garbage can, posterboard, and rope.

Early Life

Claes Oldenburg was born in Stockholm, Sweden on January 29, 1929. He traveled very much in his childhood years and arrived in Chicago in 1936 where he spent the remaining years of his youth. He attended Yale University where he studied English and writing.

Oldenburg Becomes an Artist

After graduating, he worked as an apprentice in the Chicago City News Bureau. He began taking classes at the Art Institute, and took up a job doing freelance drawings for magazines. In 1956, he moved to New York to do what he had grown so attached to, art.

The Happenings

Shortly after his arrival in New York, Oldenburg came into contact with three men who, along with himself, were influenced by Abstract Expressionism: Jim Dine, Red Grooms, and Allen Kaprow. Together they put on a theatrically based alternative to Abstract Expressionism. They called these shows, The Happenings. These shows put together costume, sight, and sound to make a work of art that is, as Oldenburg said "...most involving for the viewer."

Dadaism and Everyday Objects

After six years of his performance art, Oldenburg became fascinated by Dadaism. Simultaneously, he became fascinated with everyday street objects. So he combined the two. In 1960, he created The Store . An actual store was rented out, and he put onto display sculptures of everyday objects. Such as:

  • Food
  • Clothing
  • Jewelry
  • Bathtubs
  • Electric Fans
  • Typewriters

    His early sculptures were made of plaster, but as his love for it grew, he had no limits to what he would use.


    • Monumental Success

    Oldenburg didn't just want to make small sculptures, he wanted to build monuments. He had several plans drawn up. His first such design, came about in 1969, when Lipstick on Caterpillar Tracks was erected on the ground of his alma mater, Yale University. This was just the beginning. In the years to follow, he had several more of his works put up all around the country. Including

    • Clothespin, in Philadelphia (1976)
    • Colossal ashtray with Fagends in Paris (1977)
    • The Course of the Knife in Venice in the town which bears its name (1984)
    • Torn Notebook in Lincoln (1996)

    Oldenburg didn't act alone however. His work were created in part of another artist, by the name of Coosje van Bruggin. She greatly influenced Oldenburg in his art and his life. In 1977, he married Bruggen, and in 1981, her name was beside his on his works of art. Today, he and his wife reside in their home in Venice, California.

    A Note From Me:

    When I was first told that we had to complete a project on an artist, I was very distraught. I am simply not an art loving person, and when I received an artist for my research that I had never heard of, I was more aggravated. But as I did my research on Claes Oldenburg, I learned that all my feelings before were wrong. Claes Oldenburg takes and everyday item, like a toothbrush, and makes it into art. That truly fascinates me. I believe this man to be greatly underrated. Can Van Gogh make a thirty foot saw? I don't think so. This artist has opened my eyes and my mind up to the world of art.

    Works Cited

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