Collection: Tom Wesselmann

Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) is best known for his intense erotic compositions, the Great American Nude series, and is considered a major player in the Pop Art movement. Wesselmann took the pseudonym Slim Stealingworth in 1980 to write a (auto) biography in which he described himself as "the most underrated painter of the Pop Art generation that revolutionized the American Art world of the 1960s." There had yet to be a major North American exhibition of his work, unlike those organized for his Pop Art colleagues, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. The Stealingworth book elicited increased attention from art critics, but Beyond Pop Art: A Tom Wesselmann Retrospective was the first major North American which opened in Montreal in 2013. Wesselmann graduated from Cooper Union where he met his future wife and model, Claire, who spoke at a Denver Art Museum event during the exhibition.