Claes Oldenburg By: Brittany Wilson

Birth Name: Claes Oldenburg Born: January 28, 1929 in Stockholm, Sweden. Nationality: Swedish- American Movement: Pop Art

Background Information Oldenburg created works or art that were a wonderful blend of reality and fantasy. Success was partly due to his irreverent humor & incisive social commentary. Used everyday objects such as lipstick, a flashlight, typewriters; and lifted them out of their usual context; and forced viewers to reassess their preconceptions about the objects.

His father was a member if the Swedish foreign service, Claes and his family moved very often the family resided in New York, and then from they lived in Oslo, Norway. In 1936 the family moved to Chicago, where Claes father served as consul general of Sweden. Oldenburg graduated from Latin School in Chicago in 1946 and then enrolled at Yale University receiving B.A. Degree in 1950.

While at Yale, his studies were focused on literature and art. In 1950, Claes returned to Chicago, where he remained until Worked as apprentice reporter at City News Bureau from where he took classes painting, figure drawings, and anatomy at the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago. Also attended Oxbow Summer School of Painting in Saugatuck, Michigan, in 1953.

Sculpture, Public Art Spoon-bridge and Cherry, sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, 1985–88; in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden of the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.

Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, Claes Oldenburg (b. 1929; B.A. 1950) Location: Morse College Courtyard Dropped Cone Neumarkt Galerie, Cologne, Germany Stainless and galvanized steels, fiber- reinforced plastic, balsa wood; painted with polyester gelcoat 39 ft. 10 in. (12.1 m) high x 19 ft. (5.8 m) diameter; height above building: 32 ft. 10 in. (10 m) Commissioned by Neumarkt Galerie Installed March 2001 Giant Stamp located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

Giant Toothpaste Tubes, Art & Dental Hygiene The first tube, made in Venice, California, in 1963 seemed to some people an unconscious self-portrait

Unique Characteristics Oldenburg is best known for his ingenious, oversized renditions of ordinary objects. Like the giant "soft" three-way plug and overturned bag of French fries in the Walker's own collection. Him and his wife and collaborator, had already created a number of large-scale public sculptures (Batcolumn) in Chicago.

Oldenburg is still alive at the age of 82, and is living in New York.

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