Lot 157
157
CLAES OLDENBURG (b. 1929)
CLAES OLDENBURG (b. 1929)

Golf Balls, Saddle Shoes, Soap, Capitol, Etc..In Cage Souvenirs of "Stars" Wash. D.C. 1963

Details
CLAES OLDENBURG (b. 1929)
Golf Balls, Saddle Shoes, Soap, Capitol, Etc..In Cage Souvenirs of "Stars" Wash. D.C. 1963
signed, inscribed and dated 'for Carolee from Claes from "Stars" 1963 (on the metal cage); and signed again, titled, inscribed and dated ''GOLF BALLS, SADDLE SHOES, SOAP, CAPITOL..ETC. IN CAGE' SOUVENIRS OF "STARS" WASH. D.C., 1963. Claes Oldenburg 3/15/73' (on the reverse of the gelatin silver print inside the cage)
painted golf balls, saddle shoes, soap, ceramic capitol building, harness bells and gelatin silver print in metal cage
height: 10¼ in. (26.1 cm.)
width: 10 7/8 in. (27.8 cm.)
depth: 7 in. (17.8 cm.)
Executed in 1963
Provenance
Rosa Esman Gallery, New York.
Anon. sale, Christie's, New York, 13 May 1981, lot 107.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Lot Essay

Claes Oldenburg first earned notoriety with his "Happenings" and related objects which he executed in the early 1960's. The present work comes from Stars: A Farce for Objects, a seminal early performance from 24-25 April 1963 at the Washington Gallery of Modern Art. The work appears to be related to Marcel Duchamp's infamous Why Not Sneeze Rose Sélavy?, 1921 in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which also consists of a bird cage filled with disparate objects.

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