Claes Oldenburg
1929–2022

Introduction

Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. Many of his works were made in collaboration with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, who died in 2009; they had been married for 32 years. Oldenburg lived and worked in New York City.

Wikidata identifier

Q156731

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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

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Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed March 30, 2024.