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Lot Essay
The first laser-cut steel drawing came. Very exciting. It is exciting and the many promises it suggests are even more so. It is really like being able to pick up a delicate line drawing from the paper, and being able to carry it around!
—Tom Wesselmann, November 1984
Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) saw in shapes. He saw in colors and patterns and images, but he mainly saw in shapes, and it was not until the advent of his laser-cut steel drawing series that his vision could be fully realized. Literally lifting his superior draughtsmanship off the page into physical space, the steel cut-outs exude strength and delicacy while adorning mundane walls with the trappings of Wesselmann’s wonderful world. The present work (1987) is one of the earliest examples of the artist’s experimentation with the technique, one of the two proofs gifted to the brilliant people behind the technological development necessary for the new process and developed in preparation for the 1986 exhibition debut of the steel drawings at OK Harris Works of Art in association with Sidney Janis Gallery. Wesselmann would deliver batches of quick sketches of his designs for translation into complex code that would capture the nuances and intricacies of his drawings (previously not possible with the existing technology of the day). The code that was generated would then provide the basis for the metal worker to employ on the machinery used to cut the steel itself, making it possible for the first time to faithfully produce in steel the exact gestures of Wesselmann’s drawings. Wesselmann’s fabricator, the renowned Lippincott in Connecticut, would then prime and clean the steel stencil before bringing it to New York City, where Wesselmann would add the finishing touches in enamel and ink on the reverse. Ever the progressive, Wesselmann, rather than shying away from technological development, dove right in, seeing not a threat to artistic production but a boon. Thus, Still Life with Daisies, Lilies and Fruit is less a static scene in the vein of the Dutch masters and more a testament to Wesselmann’s innate inability to remain still – instead always forging ahead in medium, message and meaning.
—Tom Wesselmann, November 1984
Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) saw in shapes. He saw in colors and patterns and images, but he mainly saw in shapes, and it was not until the advent of his laser-cut steel drawing series that his vision could be fully realized. Literally lifting his superior draughtsmanship off the page into physical space, the steel cut-outs exude strength and delicacy while adorning mundane walls with the trappings of Wesselmann’s wonderful world. The present work (1987) is one of the earliest examples of the artist’s experimentation with the technique, one of the two proofs gifted to the brilliant people behind the technological development necessary for the new process and developed in preparation for the 1986 exhibition debut of the steel drawings at OK Harris Works of Art in association with Sidney Janis Gallery. Wesselmann would deliver batches of quick sketches of his designs for translation into complex code that would capture the nuances and intricacies of his drawings (previously not possible with the existing technology of the day). The code that was generated would then provide the basis for the metal worker to employ on the machinery used to cut the steel itself, making it possible for the first time to faithfully produce in steel the exact gestures of Wesselmann’s drawings. Wesselmann’s fabricator, the renowned Lippincott in Connecticut, would then prime and clean the steel stencil before bringing it to New York City, where Wesselmann would add the finishing touches in enamel and ink on the reverse. Ever the progressive, Wesselmann, rather than shying away from technological development, dove right in, seeing not a threat to artistic production but a boon. Thus, Still Life with Daisies, Lilies and Fruit is less a static scene in the vein of the Dutch masters and more a testament to Wesselmann’s innate inability to remain still – instead always forging ahead in medium, message and meaning.