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Great American Nude #35 (Primary Title)

Tom Wesselmann, American, 1931 - 2004 (Artist)

1962
American
Paintings
enamel, polymer, found materials on board
Modern and Contemporary Art
United States
Unframed: 48 × 60 in. (121.92 × 152.4 cm)
85.454
Not on view

“I was a Pop artist to the extent that I deliberately chose American imagery . . . I used what was around me, so my culture was what I used.” —Tom Wesselmann

Great American Nude, the title Wesselmann gave to an extended series of related works, humorously evokes the clichéd notion of the Great American Novel. Wesselmann used images and objects that surrounded him in his daily life, including a pair of windows found in the gutter in Greenwich Village. In this, his first female nude to incorporate a found element, Wesselmann’s evocative combination of actual objects, collage, and paint made Great American Nude #35 an unmistakably American 1960s update of a classic theme.

signed on reverse, upper left: "GAN #35 / 4' x 5' Wesselmann 62"
Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis
Pop Art and Beyond: Tom Wesselmann, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, April 6 - July 28, 2013

Beyond Pop: Tom Wesselmann, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada, May 19 - October 7, 2012

Look Here: FEAST exhibition, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, March 16 - June 25, 2006

Tom Wesselmann, Museo d'Art Contemporanea Roma, June 8 - September 18, 2005

The Window in the 20th Century Art, Neuberger Museum, NY, 20 Sept 1986 - Jan 1987; Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, April - June 1987

Art About Art, Whitney Art Museum of American Art, NY, July 15 - Sept 24, 1978; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raliegh, Oct 15 - Nov 26, 1978; The Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, Univ. of California at Los Angeles, Dec 17, 1978 - Feb 11, 1979; Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, March 6 - April 15, 1979

A Bicentennial Exhibition: American Art Today, Univ. of Virginia Bicentennial Exhibit, Charlottesville, March 9 - April 30, 1976

Selections from the Lewis Collection, Richmond Public Library, April 1976

Boston Collects Modern Art, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, May 24 - June 14, 1964
(Pace Gallery, Boston) by 1962. [1] Mr. and Mrs. Avram Goldberg, Brookline. [1] (Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York) by 1972; Purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Sydney and Frances Lewis in 1972; [2] Gift to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond, Virginia in December of 1985.

[1] Object may have been included in "Pop Art" exhibition at Pace Gallery, Boston in 1962. According to the artist's estate, this was the only exhibition of Wesselmann's work at Pace Gallery, Boston (www.tomwesselmannestate.org).

[2] Exhibition catalogue for Boston Collects Modern Art (Waltham: Brandeis University, 1964) indicates object was lent by Mr. and Mrs. Avram Goldberg, Brookline.

[3] Lot #43, Sale #3426, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, October 26, 1972.
©artist or artist’s estate

Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.