Seated Monica with Mondrian

Tom Wesselmann’s Estate, New York (the USA).

Painted steel.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tom Wesselmann created a series of paintings, in which he depicted a nude model against a background of famous works of art. In addition to paintings by Piet Mondrian, who was one of the artist’s idols, he used paintings by R. Lichtenstein, E. Warhol and H. Matisse, paying tribute to these masters. Slender nude model Monica is sitting in front of the picture in a relaxed pose. Her body is depicted schematically, but Wesselmann highlighted personal details such as lips, nipples and pubic hair with a more intense colour, which is characteristic of his style. He painted not on canvas or paper but a thin sheet of metal painted with enamel. The artist applied this technique in his later works, using a powerful modern laser to shape the work.