Claes Oldenburg

CLAES OLDENBURG (Stockholm, Sweden—1929).
“Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks,” 1972.
Lithograph on Rives BFK paper. Print no. 42/100.
Published by: Paul-Bianchi (New York).
Bears the artist’s dry stamp.
With a separate label from SCAI THE BATHHOUSE.
Signed and inscribed in pencil.
Measurements: 76 x 59.5 cm.
The composition reproduces the famous project *Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks*, conceived in 1969 for Yale University, in which the artist transforms an everyday object—lipstick—into a monumental structure mounted on the tracks of a military vehicle.The combination of these two seemingly incompatible elements creates an image of great visual and conceptual power. The contrast between the feminine and commercial nature of the cosmetic and the mechanical forcefulness of the military machinery introduces an ironic commentary on the contradictions of contemporary society. The work simultaneously challenges consumer culture, symbols of power, and the rhetoric of war, within a historical context marked by student protests and opposition to the Vietnam War. The original monument, installed on the Yale campus in 1969, thus became a public intervention with a distinctly critical and anti-war character. The 1972 print translates this approach into graphic language through a technical and schematic representation, similar to an engineering drawing.
Claes Oldenburg was one of the leading figures of Pop Art and a key figure in the renewal of contemporary sculpture. Trained in literature and art history at Yale University and later at the Art Institute of Chicago, he developed an artistic language based on the transformation of everyday objects, the alteration of their scales, and a sense of humor. He achieved international recognition for his monumental sculptures and his collaborations with Coosje van Bruggen. His work is part of major collections such as those of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.