Tom Wesselmann - Candle

Tom Wesselmann
Small Candle "Cut-Out Nude Study" Limoges porcelain
Made in France
7 x 7 x 7 cm
Ligne Blanche Paris

This candle was created to celebrate Tom Wesselmann's fourth solo exhibition with Almine Rech Gallery, on view from June 11 to July 30, 2022.

'Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) forged his distinctive, figurative fusion of color and line through a longtime engagement with Matisse. Wesselmann first learned about the French master while studying at Cooper Union (1956–59), where his teacher Nicholas Marsicano encouraged him “to find your own way. . . You can’t do what Matisse did.”
Wesselmann’s goal to bypass De Kooning and find his own direction was satisfied by his adaptations of the controlled, precise contours; bold, flat colors; and sensual imagery popularized by Matisse. The exhibition of Matisse’s cut-outs in 1961 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, may have reaffirmed his interest in Matisse as a precedent for exploring variations of a subject in serial form.'