Claes Oldenburg was a Swedish-born American artist born in 1929 who is considered a prominent figure in Pop Art. Some of his most famous large-scale sculptures include Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, Clothespin, and Spoonbridge and Cherry. Oldenburg sought to make ordinary objects extraordinary in scale through his use of everyday items such as a clothespin or sandwich. Many of his pieces were collaborations with his wife Coosje van Bruggen before her death in 2009.

1. Claes Oldenburg
• Born in Sweden in 1929
• Went to school at a Latin school in
Chicago, attended Yale as well as
took painting classes at the Art
Institute in Chicago
• Largely considered to be a Pop artist
• Many of his pieces were actually
done in collaboration with his wife
before she died in 2009.

2. Oldenburg the Pop artist
• What is pop art?
- “The goal of Pop Art was, "to make the ordinary
extraordinary.“”

3. Some works by Claes
Lipstick (Ascending) on
Caterpillar Tracks, 1969-74
Cor-Ten steel, steel, aluminum,
cast resin; painted with
polyurethane enamel
23 ft. 6 in. x 24 ft. 11 in. x 10 ft. 11
in. (7.2 x 7.6 x 3.3 m)
early pieces
Clothespin
Centre Square Plaza, Fifteenth
and Market streets, Philadelphia
Cor-Ten and stainless steels
45 ft. x 12 ft. 3 in. x 4 ft. 6 in. (13.7 x
3.7 x 1.4 m)

4. More works by Claes
Giant BLT (Bacon, Lettuce,
and Tomato Sandwich),
1963. Vinyl, kapok fibers,
painted wood, and wood,
32 × 39 × 29 in
Soft
Sculpture
Soft Toilet, 1966. Wood, vinyl,
kapok fibers, wire, plexiglass
on metal stand and painted
wood base, 55 1/2 × 28 1/4 ×
30 in.

5. And some more…
Binoculars
Steel frame; exterior: concrete and
Very large cement plaster painted with
elastomeric paint; interior: gypsum
scale works plaster
Spoonbridge and Cherry
Stainless steel and aluminum
45 x 44 x 18 ft .
painted with polyurethane
enamel
29 ft. 6 in. x 51 ft. 6 in. x 13 ft. 6
in

6. • "Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen." Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen. Web. 10 Apr.
2012. <http://oldenburgvanbruggen.com/>.
• “Jodi Summers = Santa Monica Real Estate." » GOOGLE MOVES TO MAIN STREET, VENICE. Web. 10
Apr. 2012. <http://www.santamonicapropertyblog.com/?p=3209>.
• "Soft Toilet." Whitney Museum of American Art: Claes Oldenburg:. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
<http://whitney.org/ForKids/Collection/ClaesOldenburg/7983aB>.
• "ArtsNet Minnesota: What Is Art?: Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen." ArtsConnectEd. Web.
10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.artsconnected.org/artsnetmn/whatsart/oldenb5.html>.
• "Artrageousafternoon: May 2011." Artrageousafternoon. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
<http://artrageousafternoon.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html>.