Tom Wesselmann - Still Life, Nude, Landscape: The Late Prints

About

Wesselmann's choices of subject matter — nude, still life, landscape — are universally recognisable classical themes from the canon of art history. Over the course of his career, he reinterpreted these using his own distinctive visual language, characterised by a reductive line, bold, flat primary colours and often the inclusion of symbols of American culture and patriotism. Works included in this exhibition, such as Mixed Bouquet with Leger and Monica Sitting with Mondrian, clearly demonstrate his respect for a European painterly tradition, but are suffused with wit and a sense of playfulness indicative of that new generation of American artists. The exhibition at the Alan Cristea Gallery focuses on prints made during the latter half of Wesselmann's four-decade career, including some of his most significant etchings, aquatints and screenprints such as his influential Great American Nude series (begun in 1961).