Porcelain plate "Sunset Nude with Palm Trees" (2003)
Porcelain plate "Sunset Nude with Palm Trees" (2003)
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porcelain | Ø 21 cm | signed | shipped in gift box
Detailed description
Porcelain plate "Sunset Nude with Palm Trees" (2003)
Plate made of fine porcelain featuring a motif from the work "Sunset Nude with Palm Trees" by Tom Wesselmann, realised in an exclusive collaboration between the estate of the artist Tom Wesselmann and Ligne Blanche Paris. © Estate of Tom Wesselmann. Licensed by Artestar, New York. Diameter 21 cm, signed on the back. In an elegant gift box.
About Tom Wesselmann
1931-2004
Along with Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann played a significant role in shaping the art history of the 20th century as one of the outstanding representatives of Pop Art.
Wesselmann's subject matter targets a central area of modern society: the world of the cult of sex and stardom, strikingly displayed through advertising and visual media. His works make creative use of the methods of advertising and illustrated magazines and draw attention to them.
He became known in 1961 with his female nude "Great American Nude", the title of which became the generic term for a series that caused horror among art critics and connoisseurs. In contrast to other artists of his genre, who deal with consumer goods ironically and critically, for Wesselmann, the aesthetic view is paramount. He stages his female nude models in elaborate interiors, in front of gathered curtains and plump fruit bowls. Wesselmann's strikingly erotic motifs are even more provocative due to the often faceless models, whose sexual characteristics are emphasised by tan lines, for example.
In his first nudes, Wesselmann's future wife, Claire, posed as his model. But, from the early 1980s onwards, it was Monica Serra, whom he had met at the opening of one of his exhibitions and who also became his assistant. Wesselmann's works from this period are comparable to the tradition of classical nude painting from Titian to Manet to Matisse and Picasso, which he quotes in some of his works.
Today, Tom Wesselmann is among the classics of modern art, whose independent style is characterised by the aesthetics of abstract expressionism within the motif framework of a striking pop theme.
In the early 1950s, a movement took over the cultural scene. Young artists from the US and the UK - completely independently of each other - severed their ties with all the traditions of artistic creativity and helped modernity to achieve a new art movement.
In the US there were Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann and James Rosenquist who were seeking their themes in the world of advertising and comics, in star cult and anonymous urban culture. With flash colouring, over dimensioning and manipulating depth perspective they created new provocative works. thanks to the famous exhibition "This is Tomorrow" at London's Whitechapel Art Gallery, Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi are to be considered as the true pioneers of Pop Art in England. In the 1960s, they were followed by David Hockney, Allan Jones, Peter Phillips and Derek Boshier.
Ceramic product made of kaolin, quartz and feldspar.
Porcelain is formed by turning or pressing and figurative objects are cast. Complex objects have to be cast in separated steps and sections and then "assembled". After the moulding, the pieces are dried and "annealed" at about 900 °C. Next, the glaze will be applied and fired at temperatures between 1,240 °C and 1,445 °C. In renowned manufactures, the porcelain is painted by hand whereby each colour has to be fired individually and in compliance with narrow temperature tolerances.
Porcelain was invented in China and became widespread in Europe from the 16th century onwards. The first European porcelain factory was founded in Meissen, Germany in 1710.
Other famous European porcelain factories include Fürstenberg, Höchst, Schwarzburger Werkstätten, Lladró, Nymphenburg, KPM, Augarten, Sèvres, Limoges, Royal Copenhagen, Worcester. Individual factories label their products with their personal porcelain stamps so that for the collecter it is easy to identify their origin.