Claes Oldenburg
CLAES OLDENBURG
(Swedish / American, b. 1929)
Profiterole, 1989 (published 1990)
Hand-painted cast aluminum
overall: 6 x 8- 1/8 x 8- 5/8 in. (15.2 x 20.6 x 21.9 cm)
From an edition of 75 with 25 artist’s proofs. Incised on a brass label on the underside with initials, title, date, and edition number, with a blind stamp of the publisher, Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
A pioneer of American Pop Art, Claes Oldenburg is known for his creations of everyday objects, sometimes small, cast, hand-painted pieces, some made of soft materials, and some done as large-scale public installations.
The small objects were often food-related — such as the eclairs and assorted pastries and banana splits and, as we see in this sculpture, profiteroles. They adorned his famous "Store", opened in 1961, as a storefront on the Lower East Side of NYC, and more recently in subsequent venues.