In the Saleroom: Claes Oldenburg's Typewriter Eraser

<p>At Christie's May 13 Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Claes Oldenburg&rsquo;s sculpture <em><a href="http://christies.com/lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5204541">Typewriter Eraser</a></em> sold for $2,210,500 and set a new world record for the artist. Produced in 1976, <em>Typewriter Eraser</em> presents a giant disk-shaped eraser that appears to have just alighted on the ground, the bristles of its brush turned upward with a sense of dynamic grace. Oldenburg transforms this once ubiquitous office accessory into a grand monument. In 1970, he began to sketch its mass-produced form, placing it into imagined landscapes in order to explore the idea of using it for a giant public sculpture.</p>