TOM WESSELMANN (1931-2004) Lot n° 52

TOM WESSELMANN (1931-2004) STUDY FOR BEDROOM PAINTING (DANIÈLE), 1971 Oil on canvas Signed and dated '71' Signed, titled and dated on the back on the stretcher Oil on canvas; signed and dated on the overlap; signed, titled and dated '71' on the stretcher 20 x 25 CM - 8 x 10 in. PROVENANCE Sidney Janis Gallery, New York Studio Marconi, Milan Private collection, Milan Il Ponte Casa d'Aste, June 12, 2018, lot 71 Acquired at this sale by the current owner This work is listed in the Studio Wesselmann archive as number 71-25 "In early 1965, Wesselmann began his first foot paintings. This subject came to him through Great American Nude #58 in which he had used a collage of a woman cut out of a subway poster. He had used everything but her feet. The image of the pair of feet was lying around the studio and had an incredible presence. It became the subject of a small collage, Little seascape #1. Wesselmann was excited by the idea of a large foot as the main element of the painting, completely taking the place of the figure, and he began this series. Without being a fetishist, Wesselmann recognized that a bare foot is rather erotic (although, he added, all body parts are rather erotic). From a few feet that he was working on, he found it really beautiful and interesting to build a painting around it" (Tom Wesselmann under the pseudonym Slim Stealingworth, in Tom Wesselmann, New York, 1980) Study for Bedroom Painting (Danièle) is a study from the major Bedrooms Paintings series initiated by Tom Wesselmann in 1967, in which the artist combines various elements of his iconographic repertoire from Seascape, Still Life and Great American Nude. One of the particularities of this series lies in the enlargement of the scale, which reveals fragments of oversized nudes - breast, foot, mouth - and an extremely close-up shot. The model here is the French screenwriter, director and writer, Daniele Thompson, whom Wesselmann had met at the opening of an exhibition devoted to her at the Sidney Janis Gallery in the 1960s. After posing with a cigarette in his hand for the Smoker series, the artist devoted numerous studies and large-scale works to her. "Early in 1965 Wesselmann made the first foot paintings. This subject was provoked when Wesselmann in Great American Nude #58 used a collage woman, cut from a subway poster. He used all but the feet. This pair of feet hung around the studio and had an irresistible presence. They became the focus of a small collage, Little Seascape #1. The idea of a big foot as the main element of a painting, taking the place of a full figure, became very exciting to Wesselmann; and he began a series of foot paintings. While not a foot fetishist, Wesselmann says he does find a beautiful bare foot to be rather erotic. (Although he adds, he finds all parts of the body to be rather erotic.) And some of the feet he worked from he found to be profoundly beautiful and very exciting to build a painting around."(Tom Wesselmann as Slim Stealingworth, in Tom Wesselmann, New York, 1980) Study for Bedroom Painting (Danièle) is a study within the major Bedroom Paintings series initiated by Tom Wesselmann in 1967, and in which the artist combines different elements of his iconographic repertoire from his Seascape, Still Life, and Great American Nude series. One of the key elements of this series lies in the enlargement of the scale which reveals oversized nude fragments -breasts, feet, and mouths- and an extremely close-up shots. The model here is the French screenwriter, film director and author, Danièle Thompson whom Wesselmann had met during an opening for one of his solo exhibitions at the Sidney Janis Gallery in the 1960s. After having posed, cigarette in hand, for the Smoker series, the artist dedicated to her numerous studies and large format works.