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Almine Rech Opens Show of Massive Wesselmann Late Works

January 28, 2019 by Marion Maneker

Tom Wesselmann’s massive late nudes are the subject of a show at Almine Rech in London opening this week. Some of these ‘joyous’ works are massive—10-ft wide or 10-ft high—and still have the capacity to “confound or shock [his] most ardent followers,” in the words of Susan Davidson who wrote an essay on the effect of the works of Wesselmann’s last decade.

The sheer size of much of Wesselmann’s late works surely worked against them before the recent taste for over-sized art. These works from the estate—which is jointly represented by Almine Rech and Gagosian Gallery—include this Sunset Nude, Floral Blanket from 2003, above, and Sunset Nude with Matisse Odalisque from the same year. The show also features a 7-ft painted aluminum cut out Three Step.

Here’s Almine Rech’s press release for the show:

Almine Rech London is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Tom Wesselmann, opening January 30th and continuing until March 23, 2019. The exhibition will consist of rarely shown works from the artist’s final years. This presentation will include three large Sunset Nude paintings, alongside abstract cut-out steel works, seen together publicly for the first time, and Exhibition Detail, a monumental assemblage exemplary of Wesselmann’s ability to blur the lines between abstraction and figuration, allowing for their harmonious coexistence. A selection of archival material, comprised of preparatory drawings, three-dimensional working maquettes, documentary photographs and the artist’s sketchbooks will also be on view.

The following text by Susan Davidson, excerpted from her essay Opposites Attract: The Parallel Course of Tom Wesselmann’s Last Decade (2018), elaborates upon the themes and works included in the exhibition:

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Gagosian Tries to Jump Start Wesselmann Market with Still Lifes

January 22, 2018 by Marion Maneker

The Wall Street Journal’s Kelly Crow plugs Gagosian’s show of Tom Wesselmann’s large, late still lifes:

The gallery has gathered nine still lifes that the artist created between 1967 and 1981 but never showed together. MoMA lent one ofthe pieces from 1969-70, “Still Life #57,” but most of the others went unsold when they were initially shown and have remained in the artist’s estate.

Gagosian declined to say what it plans to ask for the still lifes in its show, but … a smaller, preparatory painting for one of the … pieces on view at Gagosian, 1981’s “Still Life with Belt and Sneaker,” sold at Sotheby’s in 2010 for $650,500.

A smaller, single-panel work from 1981, Still Life and Blue Jar and Smoking Cigarette, sold at Phillips in May 2015 for $1.385m which gives those interested a better sense of the pricing for these works.

Pop Artist Tom Wesselmann’s Larger-Than-Life Paintings Go On View  (WSJ)

Gagosian and Almine Rech Share Wesselmann Estate

November 25, 2016 by Marion Maneker

Robin Pogrebin’s New York Times column announces that the estate of Tom Wesselmann, which has been holding something of a bake off recently, has chosen a dealer to represent the artist after a number of years being independent:

Recently, the family came to feel that it needed a dedicated gallery, particularly at auction, where prices for Wesselmann’s work dropped after the economic downturn in 2008. “You want to have engaged dealers,” Mr. Wesselmann said. “Not creating an artificial market, but they can motivate their client base and bid themselves. We had no one protecting the market for a number of years.”

Now the estate has decided to be represented by two dealers, [Almine] Rech and Larry Gagosian, who will also jointly publish the catalogue raisonné of Wesselmann’s “Great American Nudes,” to be completed in 2018.

“This is an artist who has a lot of room to grow in terms of curatorial development and also market development,” Mr. Gagosian said.

“It’s got an edge to it; to my eye, it seems very fresh — it hasn’t been overexposed,” he added of the work. “The way he deals with sexuality, the way he deals with feminism — there’s a controversy to it that’s very timely, very provocative. It hasn’t been overly homogenized. It sets off sparks.”

Pop Artist Tom Wesselmann’s Estate Will Be Represented by 2 Dealers (The New York Times)

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