Claes Oldenburg: Six Themes

The Estate of Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, will present a major exhibition of sculpture, drawings and prints by Claes Oldenburg.The exhibition will revisit Six Themes, the landmark survey show organized by Martin Friedman for the Walker Art Center in 1975 and which travelled to four additional museums. Six Themes gathered artwork in various media that investigated six “themes” or subjects: Geometric Mouse; Three-Way Plug; Fagends; Clothespin; Typewriter Eraser; and Standing Mitt with Ball. Once adopted by Oldenburg, each subject proved endlessly inspiring, and the six “themes” are among the artist’s most celebrated works. Oldenburg selected his themes primarily for their form and also for their versatility. In his words, “a requirement of any subject is that it be extremely adaptable, especially in scale, so that a small clothespin would be as interesting as a clothespin a hundred feet high.”