The sentimentality of the Abstract Expressionists was a thing of the past when Claes Oldenburg settled in New York. In some oversized sculptures, he taught Pop Art to walk.
Pop art may have surprised people in its early phase as loud, colorful and bold, but from Claes Oldenburg’s point of view it was flat in the literal sense. The Swedish-born artist believed in the impact of everyday objects, but he went a step further than his contemporaries: He elevated 1960s pop art, mostly found in prints and paintings, to sculpture and humorously recontextualized consumer objects . Along with Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, he was one of the greatest representatives of the movement.