TOM WESSELMANN (1931-2004)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail1.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail2.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail3.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail4.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail5.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail6.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail7.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail8.jpg)
![TOM WESSELMANN - Smoker No. 21 <div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br><br><br><br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>](/Art_Images/Large/tom_wesselmann_smoker_no._21_37613.c_detail9.jpg)
Procedencia
Propiedad del artistaGalería Robert Miller, Nueva York
Colección privada, Japón, adquirida a la anterior, 2006
Colección privada de Yusaku Maezawa, Japón, adquirida a la anterior, 2012
Sotheby's Nueva York: Contemporary Art Evening Sale, 18 de mayo de 2017, lote 28
Colección privada, adquirida en la venta anterior
Christie's Londres: 20th/21st Century Evening Sale, martes 28 de junio de 2022, lote 73
Heather James Fine Art
Colección privada, adquirida a la anterior
Exposición
Nueva York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Nueva pintura...Más....s de Tom Wesselmann, abril-mayo 1976, nº 9...MENOS....
Historia
Tras introducirse involuntariamente en la conversación sobre el Pop Art con su Gran Desnudo AmericanoTom Wesselmann se pasó el resto de su carrera explicando que su motivación no era centrarse excesivamente en un tema o generar comentarios sociales, sino dar forma a lo que más le excitaba por bello y excitante. Su serieBoca incorpórea de 1965 estableció que una imagen no tenía por qué depender de elementos extraños para comunicar un significado. Pero fueron sus siguientes actuaciones, con la serieSmoker y su seductor encanto fetichista, las que le encumbraron entre los verdaderos sibaritas de todo el mundo. Aparte de percibir el fumar como algo cool y chic, un cuadro como Smoker #21 es la celebración consumada de las habilidades de Wesselmann como pintor. Atraído por el humo ondulante, Wesselmann se esmeró en describir con precisión sus movimientos sinuosos y en observar las pausas momentáneas que realzaban su apreciación de su naturaleza sensual. Como todas las obras prodigiosas de Wesselmann, Fumador nº 21 tiene la imponente presencia de un retablo. Fue realizado durante largas horas en su impresionante estudio de Manhattan, en Cooper Square, y el resultado es de un dinamismo seductor -evocador, sensual, seductor, elegante, exuberante y, tal vez, incluso siniestro-, un cuadro que hace alarde de su supremacía gráfica y de su potente realismo barnizado con su patentado toque de sex appeal.
Fuente Imágenes
Tom Wesselmann amplió el éxito de su Grandes desnudos americanos centrándose en rasgos singulares de sus retratados y comenzó a pintar su serieMouth en 1965. En 1967, Peggy Sarno, amiga de Wesselmann, se detuvo a fumar un cigarrillo mientras modelaba para la serie Mouth de Wesselmann, lo que inspiró sus cuadrosSmoker. Los susurros de humo eran difíciles de pintar y obligaron a Wesselmann a utilizar fotografías como material de partida para captar adecuadamente la naturaleza efímera del humo. Las imágenes muestran a Wesselmann fotografiando a su amiga, la guionista Danièle Thompson, mientras posaba para algunas de las imágenes originales de Wesselmann.
Los mejores resultados en la subasta
![“Great American Nude no. 48” (1963) sold for $10,681,000. Óleo y collage sobre lienzo, acrílico y collage sobre tabla, radiador esmaltado y ensamblaje, 84 x 106 pulg. Vendido en Sotheby's Nueva York: 14 de mayo de 2008.](https://www.heatherjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Wesselmann_AuctionRecord1.jpg)
"Great American Nude no. 48" (1963) se vendió por 10.681.000 dólares.
![“Smoker #9” (1973) sold for $6,761,000. Acrílico sobre lino, 83 x 89 1/2 pulg. Vendido en Christie's Nueva York: 13 de mayo de 2008.](https://www.heatherjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Wesselmann37613_comp1.jpg)
"Smoker #9" (1973) se vendió por 6.761.000 dólares.
![“Smoker #17” (1973) sold for $5,864,000. Óleo sobre lienzo perfilado, 96 x 131 pulg. Vendido en Sotheby's Nueva York: 15 de mayo de 2007.](https://www.heatherjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Wesselmann37613_comp2.jpg)
"Smoker #17" (1973) se vendió por 5.864.000 dólares.
Cuadros comparables vendidos en subasta
![“Smoker #9” (1973) sold for $6,761,000. Acrílico sobre lino, 83 x 89 1/2 pulg. Vendido en Christie's Nueva York: 13 de mayo de 2008.](https://www.heatherjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Wesselmann37613_comp1.jpg)
"Smoker #9" (1973) se vendió por 6.761.000 dólares.
![“Smoker #17” (1973) sold for $5,864,000. Óleo sobre lienzo perfilado, 96 x 131 pulg. Vendido en Sotheby's Nueva York: 15 de mayo de 2007.](https://www.heatherjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Wesselmann37613_comp2.jpg)
"Smoker #17" (1973) se vendió por 5.864.000 dólares.
![Smoker #5 (Mouth #19) (1969) sold for $4,703,900. Óleo sobre lienzo perfilado, 96 7/8 x 66 1/2 pulg Vendido en Sotheby's Londres: 08 de marzo de 2017.](https://www.heatherjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Wesselmann37613_comp3.jpg)
Smoker #5 (Boca #19) (1969) se vendió por 4.703.900 dólares.
Pinturas en colecciones de museos
Museo de Arte Moderno, Nueva York
Instituto de Arte de Minneapolis
Museo de Arte de Dallas
High Museum of Art, Georgia
Museo de Arte Americano Crystal Bridges, Arkansas
Museo de Arte Cranbrook, Michigan
Nasjonalmuseet, Noruega
Museo de Arte y Diseño de la Prefectura de Toyama, Japón
Autenticación
Fumador nº 21 ha sido aprobada para su inclusión en el próximo catálogo razonado de las obras de Tom Wesselmann por el comité Wesselmann del Instituto Wildenstein Plattner.
Galería de imágenes
Recursos adicionales
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Otras obras de Tom Wesselmann
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