Bedroom Brunette Scribble

One of the central figures of Pop art, Tom Wesselmann joyfully imagined the classical motif of the odalisque refracted through the prism of twentieth-century consumer culture. In his modern-day incarnation, Wesselmann composed his reclining female nudes with sweeping curves, clean lines and flat blocks of colour setting them against graphically chromatic grounds. These contuors were defined by ‘a sensuous heat and close-up intimacy that were one part sex and four parts astutely considered colour and scale’ and they galvanised his early career (R. Smith, “Tom Wesselmann, 73, Pop Artist Known for Sleek Nudes, Is Dead’, New York Times, 20 December 2004, p. B7). Referred to as the Great American Nudes, Wesselmann’s series cheekily referenced the consumerist ethos and abundant opportunities that underpinned American life. Returning again and again to his grand odalisques, he experimented stylistically throughout his career. Painted in 1984, Nude represents the artist’s continually evolving visual idiom; for the present work, Wesselmann eliminated all extraneous detail and subjective marks. Using sunny, fluorescent acrylic, his nude is a striking and bold rendering of his signature image. In the few, spare lines tracing the feminine lines exist signs of Wesselmann’s prodigious draughtsmanship. He began drawing while serving in the army; after his discharge, Wesselmann planned to pursue a career in illustration, first enrolling at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and then later moving to New York City, where he was accepted to study at Cooper Union. There, Wesselmann’s focus shifted to fine art, but a graphic sensibility remained central to his practice. Nude exemplifies this inheritance, exemplified in the work’s fluid forms and elegant, graceful lines.