Bedroom Painting #15
Artist
Tom Wesselmann
(American, 1931-2004)
CultureAmerican
Date1968-70
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 84 1/4 x 119 1/4 in. (214 x 302.9 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated upper left (in blue section): Wesselmann 70
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number77.420
Not on view
DescriptionThis oil on canvas painting is irregulary-shaped and combines still-life objects with a woman's foot with painted toenails. The foot lines the bottom edge of the canvas, the ball of the foot resting on a round, yellow pillow. An orange, a rose, a portrait of a lover (self-portrait of Wesselmann) is in the background. The contour of the canvas is shaped to fit the objects depicted.Label TextTom Wesselmann American, 1931–2004 Bedroom Painting No. 15, 1968–70 Oil on canvas Mundane objects become erotic in Tom Wesselmann’s Bedroom Painting No. 15. The shiny orange and the bright yellow pillow that dominate the composition coyly resemble women’s breasts, while an extended pink foot with painted toenails suggests a lounging female nude. The rose and the lover’s photograph are romantic symbols, but they too become highly suggestive. For example, the photograph—a self-portrait—positions the artist and the viewer as voyeurs of the seductive scene. With his early interest in cartoons, Wesselmann developed a talent for simplified and colorful imagery that seamlessly blends commercial and sexual desires. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 77.420 ProvenanceSidney Janis, New York, New York, 1970; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1977. Exhibition History"New Work by Wesselmann," Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, N.Y., April 8 - May 2, 1970. (Exh. cat. no. 19) "Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. (Exh. cat. p. 227) "American Figure Painting: 1950-1980," Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., October 16 - November 30, 1980. "Remix: A Fresh Look At Our Modern And Contemporary Art Collections," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, November 2, 2011 - March 17, 2012. “Pop Forever: Tom Wesselmann &…”, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France, October 17, 2024 – February 24, 2025. Published ReferencesDennis R. Anderson, "New American Contemporary Masterworks," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 4, no. 12 (December 1975): inside cover. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 227. Mahonri Sharp Young, "Primitive to Pop," _Apollo_ 107 (April 1978): 46-51. Slim Stealingworth, _Tom Wesselmann_ (New York: Abbeville Press, 1980), 58, 65, 182. ISBN: 0896590720, 0896591603 Trevor J. Fairbrother, "An Interview With Tom Wesselmann/Slim Stealingworth," _Arts Magazine_ 56, no. 9 (May 1982): 136-141. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_ (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 113. ISBN: 0-940744-37-6 Gail Levin, _The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Twentieth-Century American Painting_ (London: Sotheby's Publications, 1987), 344-347. Brenda Schmahmann, "Tom Wesselmann's Post-Collage Works: 'Acting in the Gap Between Art And Life,'" _South African Journal of Cultural and Art History_ 3, no. 3 (July 1989): 270-271. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 194, no. 148. ISBN: 0-940744-59-7, 0-940744-62-7 Sam Hunter, _Tom Wesselmann_ (New York: Rizzoli, 1994), no. 62, 74, 127. ISBN: 0847818314 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 246-247, no. 150. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 82, fig. 95. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
