5 Defining Moments for Artist Tom Wesselmann

This summer the Denver Art Museum will showcase the work of artist Tom Wesselmann, who is best known for his role in the development of pop art in the 1960s. Beyond Pop Art: A Tom Wesselmann Retrospective follows the evolution of the artist’s work through the course of four decades. This five-part blog series is designed to complement the exhibition by calling out five defining moments that shaped Wesselmann’s approach to artmaking.

What I found particularly interesting is how universal the triggers arefrom the feeling of envy and criticism, to the way our perceptions shift with a change of landscape, a new idea, or a chance discovery. It is not these moments necessarily that define us. It is in how we respond.

Image Credit: Tom Wesselmann (American, b.1931, d.2004), Landscape #5, 1965. Oil on canvas and Liquitex and collage on canvas; 84 x 144 1/2 x 18 in. Lent by Claire Wesselmann. © Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY, Photo Credit: Jeffrey Sturges.