Iron Fragment
Artist
Claes Oldenburg
(American, b. Sweden, 1929 - 2022)
CultureAmerican
Date1961
MediumMixed media
DimensionsOverall: 66 x 49 x 8 in. (167.6 x 124.5 x 20.3 cm)
InscribedSigned with initials and dated "1961" on reverse.
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.685
Collections
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an abstract sculpture made of muslin soaked in plaster over wire frame, painted with red, green, silver and black enamel.Label TextClaes Oldenburg American, b. Sweden, 1929-2022 Iron Fragment, 1961 Mixed media I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum…. I am for the art of underwear and the art of taxicabs. I am for the art of ice-cream cones dropped on concrete. I am for the majestic art of dog-turds, rising like cathedrals. –Claes Oldenburg This iron appears steaming hot, the paint seeming to melt off its surface—a visual pun that alludes to the gestural brushstrokes and drips of Abstract Expressionism. Claes Oldenburg might have exhibited Iron Fragment in 1961 at The Store, a storefront in New York’s East Side where he installed handcrafted works that commented on the irrational and ridiculous aspects of artistic and consumer culture. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.685 ProvenanceNoah Goldowski, New York; Purchased by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Mass.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va. Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. Published ReferencesDennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_ (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982).
