Sunrise

Sunset

A 30-second online art project:

Peter Burr, Sunshine Monument

Learn more

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

Skip to main content

Claes Oldenburg
1929–2022

Introduction

Claes Oldenburg studied literature and art history at Yale University and the Art Institute of Chicago. He quickly became involved in performance art after moving to New York and meeting many performance artists. By 1959, he had created drawings and collages of common objects and renderings of grotesque human figures. He created The Store in his studio, a performance space that re-created a neighborhood of shops that displayed goods that were made of plaster. He emerged as a leading Pop artist, combining consumer culture into his own sculptures. Oldenburg married artist Coosje van Bruggen in 1977. The two collaborated on many large-scale projects together and with architect Frank O. Gehry in the mid-1970s and early 1990s.

Country of birth

Sweden

Roles

Artist, painter, performance artist, sculptor, writer

ULAN identifier

500029735

Names

Claes Oldenburg, Claes Thure Oldenburg, Ḳlaʼes Oldenberg

View the full Getty record

Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed March 16, 2024.





Have feedback about the Whitney's online collection? Send us a message.