Tom Wesselmann

One of the main artists of American pop art, known for images of stylized female nudes, which were the central theme and subject of close attention of the painter. Drawing inspiration from Abstract Expressionism, especially works of Willem de Kooning, the artist rethought the images and created his unique style, incredibly realistic, alluring and at the same time cold and detached, not affecting the deep feelings of the viewer.

Tom Wesselmann began his career as a cartoonist. He worked in several popular magazines, including the so-called “men’s” magazines; this fact explains the eroticism and outright sexuality of most of his paintings. Despite the fact that the subject and style of the artist’s works is wide and varied, Tom Wesselmann entered the history of fine art as the author of the Great American Nude series of paintings. The paintings created in the 1960s depict attractive female figures against the backdrop of the famous symbols of American society depicted in patriotic red, white and blue colours.

Without identifying himself with any art movement, Tom Wesselmann conducted a constant dialogue with his predecessors and contemporaries, and also had a profound influence on subsequent generations of American artists. His ability to represent the female body as a commodity echoes the work of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, and the artist’s claim that there is “no meaning in his works” gave rise to Frank Stella’s famous saying that painting “is just what you see, and nothing more”.

Key ideas:

– Female images in the works of Tom Wesselmann are alluring and erotic. He depicted relaxed girls, on the beach with a cocktail in their hands or smoking a cigarette with lipstick on their lips. Their silhouettes are clearly defined, and their postures are relaxed. The author carefully drew such details as lips, teeth, nipples and nails of women. These details are invariably present in every work and were a kind of Wesselmann’s fetish.

– The works of famous Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning had a tremendous influence on the entire work of Tom Wesselmann. The first time he saw his series entitled “Women” in the late 1950s, the artist experienced a real cultural shock, and his work found a completely different vector of development. Combining the smooth texture of posters and the attractiveness of abstract forms, he tried, in his own words, “to make figurative art as exciting as abstract art”.

– There are no half-tones, hints and riddles in the works of Tom Wesselmann. His colours are bright and open, and the plots do not contain a deep meaning but only demonstrate the reality that is happening “here and now”. Women in the artist’s works, despite all their emancipation and attractiveness, cause a feeling of cold detachment. They are faceless and resemble mannequins from a shop window or actresses from commercials that only demonstrate external attractiveness but do not experience any real feelings.

– Throughout his career, the artist has denied belonging to Pop art. Although he used elements of advertising and household items in his paintings, Tom Wesselmann never exalted or criticized the culture of consumption. According to him, he only strove to get away from abstract art as far as possible, making things as objective and tangible as possible – therefore, understandable to the widest audience. The artist said that his main interest was not to draw attention to the subject but to use these objects in accordance with his goals.