In 1980, the audacious art scholar Slim Stealingworth wrote: “Many critics have described Tom Wesselmann as the most underrated painter of the American Art world of the 1960’s.” The funny thing is that Slim Stealingworth IS Tom Wesselmann. Frustrated at being ignored by the art world establishment, Wesselmann created an alternate identity to write a book about himself.
In 1980, the audacious art scholar Slim Stealingworth wrote: “Many critics have described Tom Wesselmann as the most underrated painter of the American Art world of the 1960’s.” The funny thing is that Slim Stealingworth IS Tom Wesselmann. Frustrated at being ignored by the art world establishment, Wesselmann created an alternate identity to write a book about himself. To an extent, he was right. Most serious art historians have limited their appreciation of artist Tom Wesselmann to his important role in the Pop Art movement, ignoring the full extent of his career. The VMFA hopes to change that with a complete retrospective coming to Richmond this Friday.
Great American Nude #35, 1962. Enamel, polymer, found materials on board, 48”H x 60”W, 121.92 cm x 152.4 cm. Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis. Photo: Travis Fullerton © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts/Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Pop Art and Beyond: Tom Wesselmann covers the full scope, starting with his early collage work, moving through the famous Pop Art nudes and Smokers series and his “steel drawings” from the 80s, to his final return to abstract painting in the last period before his death. When seen in its totality, Wesselmann’s complete works paint a picture of an American master.
“For me, he was always one of the big figures, and I couldn’t understand why he didn’t have more personal recognition in this country – particularly because he’s always featured in Pop Art histories along side Lichtenstein and other Pop Art figures,” said Marco Livingstone, co-curator of the Wesselmann exhibit and a friend of the late artist. He goes on to reason that “…because of the sexual nature of Wesselmann’s work, US audiences were less receptive; add to that the massive size of much of the work, and you get a difficult show to tour in the states.”
Landscape #5, 1965. Oil on canvas and Liquitex and collage on canvas, 84 x 144.5 x 18 in. © Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
We were lucky to be given the press tour of the exhibit a day before it opened, and can attest that most of the work is massive in scope and highly sexual. With bright hues throughout, which complement his early simplified forms as well as his later journey into Miami Vice-style graphics and cut out canvases, it’s obvious that the artist was always pushing himself to get out of his comfort zone. When he was working on his steel drawings in the 80s, he wrote letters, some of which are included in the retrospective, to metal fabricators, asking questions about the techniques he should use to make his idea a reality. The results, large and highly colorful three-dimensional steel works of art that appear from a distance to be flat paintings, indicate that Wesselmann’s talent shone through even when he set his sites on a completely new medium.
John Ravenal, the VMFA’s Curator Of Modern and Contemporary Art, adds, “The North American audience has only ever seen bits and pieces… that only have to do with a particular body of work… and if you’re not able to see all those shows, you’re missing bits and pieces… You haven’t been able to see it all together until now.” Ravenal went on to say this career-spanning show gives audiences a chance to see the many different phases of Wesslemann’s work, beyond the pop art he was famous for. “[Wesselmann] went many different directions with many different innovations.”
Sunset Nude, Floral Blanket, 2003. Oil on canvas, 91 x 120 in. © Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
The overall importance of the exhibit is summed up by Nathalie Bondil, chief curator of The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, who says, “Tom Wesslemann still has the capacity to shock. So In this retrospective, why not include a painting of a gigantic erect penis, or a gleaming female nude in molded Plexiglas? This omnipresence of sex – a joyfully embraced hedonism, a fresh, erotic simplicity; an exultant hymn to life and love, devoid of hypocrisy – confounds puritanical and feminist critique, routs it. Wesselmann is the only great figure of the Pop generation not to have had a retrospective in the United States.”
Until now.
Still Life #35, 1963. Oil and collage on canvas, 120 x 192 in. © Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Pop Art and Beyond: Tom Wesselmann open April 6th and will remain on display through July 28th.
www.vmfa.museum
