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Beyond Pop Art: A Tom Wesselmann Retrospective – Denver Art Museum

Tom Wesselmann - Still Life #60

Tom Wesselmann (American, b. 1931, d. 2004), Still Life #60, 1973. Oil on canvas; 122-1/4 x 333 x 86-1/2 in. Lent by Claire Wesselmann. © Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY, Photo Credit: Jeffrey Sturges.

Tom Wesselmann - Smoker, 1 (Mouth, 12)

Tom Wesselmann (American, b. 1931, d. 2004), Smoker, 1 (Mouth, 12), 1967. Oil on canvas, in two parts; Overall 9′ 7/8″ x 7′ 1″ (276.6 x 216 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Susan Morse Hilles Fund, 1968. © Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY, Photo Credit: Jeffrey Sturges.

Tom Wesselmann Retrospective – Denver Art Museum ‘Beyond Pop Art: A Tom Wesselmann Retrospective’ explores the American artist’s 40-year career. Denver Art Museum, from July 13 to September 21, 2014.]]>

Source: Denver Art Museum

American painter Tom Wesselmann (1931–2004) is widely regarded as one of the leading figures of American Pop Art, with a career spanning more than four decades. Organized chronologically, the exhibition follows the development of Wesselmann’s work, series by series, from the earliest abstract collages to his well-known series, “The Great American Nude”, and still lifes of his Pop period, to the cut-steel drawings and “Sunset Nudes” of his late work.

‘Beyond Pop Art’ continues the DAM’s tradition of bringing exhibitions to Denver, like ‘Becoming Van Gogh’, that provide an inside look into an artist’s process,” said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Denver Art Museum. “The exhibition allows visitors to follow Wesselmann’s personal and creative journey through the Pop Art movement and beyond.

The exhibition features approximately 100 works, including the larger-than-life “Still Life #60”, which is more than 25 feet long, and “Screen Star”, which weighs more than 2,000 pounds. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore Wesselmann’s process through preliminary drawings, maquettes and archival documents, from billboards to photographs and letters.

Tom Wesselmann continued to reinvent himself long after the Pop Art movement peaked,” said William Morrow, Polly and Mark Addison Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the DAM. “Wesselmann was interested in finding his own voice by revisiting the traditions of masters like Matisse and Cézanne and redefining the traditional genres of the nude, still life and landscape.

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Beyond Pop Art: A Tom Wesselmann Retrospective - Denver Art Museum