Doll’s House

Description

Best known for his "soft sculptures" and large-scaled outdoor sculptures, Claes Oldenburg has also produced a wide range of drawings and preparatory models for these larger works. In all of his works, Oldenburg has chosen to focus on the everyday object: the clothespin, a tube of lipstick, a typewriter eraser, a baseball bat, a screw, and binoculars, to name a few. "The use of an object, a simple object that most people know from their own experience, is a radical act in itself," he said in 1999. His insistence upon everyday objects, used and presented in new and innovative ways, looks back to the Dada movement much earlier in the century, as championed by Marcel Duchamp. These works are also related to Pop Art imagery, drawing on such popular culture imagery as the hamburger, ice-cream cones, and cakes.
In Doll’s House, the viewer is witness to Oldenburg’s drawing style, which is animated and calligraphic. Most of his drawings and gouaches have this same excited feel to them. Doll’s House does not seem to be a preparatory work, but rather functions as an independent image. Perhaps Oldenburg had plans for this image which were never realized. On the other hand, the work stands quite well on its own, full of the dynamism and interest that characterizes many of his works on paper.
Sean M. Ulmer, University Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, for "A Matter of Degree: Abstraction in Twentieth-Century Art," November 10, 2001 - January 27, 2002