Claes Oldenburg: Drawn from Life | Art & Artists
July 5, 2025–
Claes Oldenburg: Drawn from Life | Art & Artists
Proposed Colossal Monuments
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Proposed Colossal Monument for Central Park North, N.Y.C. —Teddy Bear, 1965
Claes Oldenburg, Proposed Colossal Monument for Central Park North, N.Y.C.—Teddy Bear, 1965. Wax crayon and watercolor on paper, 23 15/16 × 19in. (60.8 × 48.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President in honor of Janie C. Lee 2002.22. © Claes Oldenburg
Among Claes Oldenburg's first Proposed Colossal Monuments (1965–69) was a gigantic teddy bear sited on the north end of Central Park. The popular children's toy struck him as an appropriate subject for a monument near Harlem following the deadly shooting of Black teenager James Powell by an off-duty New York Police Department lieutenant and the ensuing riot of 1964: "I also imagined the staring Bear an incarnation of white conscience; as such, it fixes white New York with an accusing glance from Harlem but also one glassy-eyed from desperation. This may also be why I chose a toy with the 'amputated' effect of teddy paws—handlessness signifies society's frustrating lack of tools."