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Claes Oldenburg

American, Swedish, 1929-2022

One of the original Pop artists, Claes Oldenburg was born in Stockholm. The son of a Swedish diplomat, he spent his early years in Stockholm and Oslo until the family moved to Chicago in 1937.

Oldenburg attended Yale University, then returned to Chicago, where he worked for a newspaper and also attended drawing classes at the Art Institute. He moved to New York in 1956.

Oldenburg’s early art in New York were works of urban realism in cardboard and paper that were influenced by the work of Dubuffet and the New Realists, and were seen as a brutal response to society. In 1961 Oldenburg rented a storefront on the Lower East Side and sold brightly painted plaster objects as well as three-dimensional and wall reliefs based on hamburgers, pastries, men's and women's clothing, and other commodities. The signature soft sculptures followed, objects of commonplace household objects made of vinyl or canvas stuffed with kapok. These pieces transformed the medium — the soft sculptures are intended to be sensual experiences and commentary on our material world of objects and our relationship to them.

In 1965, still working in vinyl, plaster and cardboard, Oldenburg began making large works termed “Colossal Monuments,” which are large public sculptures with public and private meanings. In the 1970s, Oldenburg was fabricating large-scale works in durable materials such as steel, and working with Coosje van Bruggen, he had received many such public commissions in the United States and Europe.

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(Biography provided by Art Commerce)

Average Sold Price
$845
Styles
Materials
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Four Figures and a Head, on Giant Phallus by Claes Oldenburg erotic nude scene
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This sensuous and playful scene is characteristic of Oldenburg’s printmaking ouevre: a veritable heap of women displaying various expressions of joy and come-hither coquettishness. T...
Category

1970s Modern Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Etching

Study for a Monument in the Heroic/Erotic/Academic/Comic Style Claes Oldenburg
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This sensuous and playful scene is characteristic of Oldenburg’s printmaking ouevre: a veritable heap of women displaying various expressions of ecstasy and repose. The loose sketches were drawn directly onto the plate by the artist, a master draftsman whose erotic etchings are largely unknown. The composition is based on the drawing: Clinical Study, Towards a Heroic-Erotic Monument in the Academic/Comic Style, 1965, ball-point pen on paper, 20 x 40 in. / 60 x 101.6 cm. *This print was etched in six gorgeous inks, each in an edition of ten: take your pick of color!* Oldenburg had an interest in imaginary monuments: he famously conceptualized works such as “Ball”, an unbuilt monument conceived of in 1967 which imagined two ballcocks – the round mechanism in a toilet tank...
Category

1970s Modern Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Etching

"Parade of Women" original lithograph
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Printed in 1964 and published by Eberhard Kornfeld for the 1 Cent Life portfolio in an edition of 2000. Size: 16 1/4 x 22 3/4 inches (408 x 580 mm). Publ...
Category

1960s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Lithograph

Fagends Carved in Rock, De-Accessioned from the Denver Art Museum
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
Claes Oldenburg Fagends Carved in Rock, De-Accessioned from the Denver Art Museum (137, Axsom and Platzker), 1975 Offset Lithograph. Hand signed and ...
Category

1970s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Graphite, Lithograph, Offset

Fire Plug Souvenir - "Chicago August 1968" (P. 10), Claes Oldenburg
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Claus Oldenburg (1929) Title: Fire Plug Souvenir - "Chicago August 1968" (P. 10) Year: 1968 Medium: Cast plaster multiple with acrylic paint Ed...
Category

1960s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Plaster, Acrylic

Figure in Skirt Claes Oldenburg playful erotic nude etching in rainbow of color
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
A woman in slip-on heels leans languidly on a cloud-like phallus defined with loose, sketched lines. Gazing dreamily past the viewer, the topless woman dons a diaphanous tutu, and at...
Category

1970s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Aquatint, Etching

Parade of Women, from One Cent Life
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Austin, TX
Artist: Claes Oldenburg Title: Parade of Women Series: One Cent Life Year: 1964 Medium: Lithograph Initialled in Plate, lower right Dimensions: 16.25 x 23" Provenance: Private Collec...
Category

1960s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Lithograph

Figure and Phallus: erotic nude drawing of woman in heels in rainbow of colors
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This etching features a nude woman in high heels. Whipping her head to the left, she gazes intently past the viewer through a wild tangle of tresses. A sunhat with a bow nearly floats off her head, a tongue-in-cheek nod to modesty. Taking a wide stance, she straddles a comically large phallus, which springs up eagerly from the ground like a plant. Unusually, this etching was drawn directly onto the plate from the artist’s imagination and not from a life model. This spontaneity is visible around the woman’s bust and arms, where Oldenburg sketched several variations of her anatomy, giving the impression of a figure in movement. Beside her left breast, Oldenburg extends this halo of lines by cheekily doodling a small, floating phallus. Paper 36 x 27.5 in. / 91.4 x 69.2 cm. Plate 23.5 x 17.7 in. / 59.7 x 45.1 cm. Etching in one color on white, thick, slightly textured Wookey Hole handmade paper watermarked with the artist’s signature. Signed by the artist and dated 1975 lower right in pencil. The edition of 60 includes ten prints in each of six different ink colors: Indigo blue, vermilion, mauve, burnt sienna, astral blue, and yellow-ochre. A copy of each color is available: this listing is for one copy in the color of your choice. As recorded in the artist’s unpublished notes: “In 1974 an ambitious project for a suite of large-scale etchings was hatched with Paul Cornwall-Jones, for production by Maurice Payne in Petersburg Press’s new Pembroke studios in London. The project would consist of meticulous transcriptions of a certain group of drawings...
Category

1970s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Etching

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Claes Oldenburg Sale Prices

Sold DateSold PriceCategoryMediumCreation Year
2025$395Prints and MultiplesResin, Screen Print1964
2025$1,295Nude Prints, Abstract PrintsEtching1975
$845
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months
$395-$1,295
Sold price range of items in the past 12 months

Artists Similar to Claes Oldenburg

Claes Oldenburg art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Claes Oldenburg art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, blue, purple and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Claes Oldenburg in lithograph, etching, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Pop Art style. Not every interior allows for large Claes Oldenburg art, so small editions measuring 6 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Albert Al Hirschfeld, Larry Rivers, and Romare Bearden. Claes Oldenburg art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $150 and tops out at $120,000, while the average work can sell for $2,800.

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