Tom Wesselmann (1931–2004) was an American Pop artist most well-known for his interdisciplinary, idiosyncratic, boldly stylized interpretations of the female form. Informed by his early career as a cartoonist and by the formal characteristics of American mass media, Wesselmann eschewed the typical Abstract Expressionist approach. He admired de Kooning’s aggressive approach, but strove to transcend his influence, “just as [de Kooning] got around Picasso.” Instead, he chose to depict classical subject matter through a high-voltage lens, re-addressing the significance of the ‘Great American Nude.’ “The prime mission of my art,” he said, “is to make figurative art as exciting as abstract art.”
