1 9 7 2 ClAes olDenBurG (American, b. 1929) Baked Pot<strong>at</strong>o with Butter, 1972 Color lithograph, 1/100 sheet: 30 3/16 in. x 39 5/8 in. Purchase, Museum Acquisition Fund 1987.028 26 | <strong>Cur<strong>at</strong>ors</strong> <strong>at</strong> <strong>Work</strong>
Oldenburg’s Baked Pot<strong>at</strong>o with Butter is a lithograph print <strong>of</strong> a cooked pot<strong>at</strong>o, sliced open with a piece <strong>of</strong> butter protruding from the center. The bottom <strong>of</strong> the pot<strong>at</strong>o is parallel to a curving line which appears to represent a ground or base line. The pot<strong>at</strong>o is set against a field <strong>of</strong> yellow with a brown p<strong>at</strong>terning th<strong>at</strong> crosses outside the lines design<strong>at</strong>ing the colored background. The baked pot<strong>at</strong>o is a recurring image in much <strong>of</strong> Oldenburg’s work throughout the 1960s <strong>and</strong> 1970s in both print <strong>and</strong> sculpture media. He began with s<strong>of</strong>t sculptures <strong>of</strong> pot<strong>at</strong>oes in the 1960s (Baked Pot<strong>at</strong>o #1 in 1963), but by 1964 was developing hard plaster versions (Baked Pot<strong>at</strong>o in 1967). In regards to his multiple sculptures <strong>of</strong> pot<strong>at</strong>oes, Oldenburg st<strong>at</strong>es th<strong>at</strong> “the multiple object for me was the sculptor’s solution to making a print.” By 1971, Oldenburg began making lithographic prints <strong>of</strong> pot<strong>at</strong>oes produced by Petersburg Press. There are also numerous sketches <strong>of</strong> the baked pot<strong>at</strong>o as an imaginary colossal monument; colossal monuments were one <strong>of</strong> Oldenburg’s most noted products. In describing his fondness for the pot<strong>at</strong>o motif, Oldenburg st<strong>at</strong>es th<strong>at</strong> “the pleasure <strong>of</strong> the baked pot<strong>at</strong>o, apart from its mass, is in the sitting <strong>of</strong> the pot<strong>at</strong>o – east, west, north, south – compressing its sides <strong>and</strong> then laying into the slit a geometrical shape <strong>of</strong> butter <strong>and</strong> w<strong>at</strong>ching it melt.” Oldenburg appears to be making a playful comparison between the baked pot<strong>at</strong>o image <strong>and</strong> the female sex, thus upd<strong>at</strong>ing a comic tradition <strong>of</strong> visual puns th<strong>at</strong> was common in antiquity <strong>and</strong> the Renaissance. Oldenburg similarly referenced phallic imagery in another lithograph in the Museum collection, S<strong>of</strong>t Fire Plug Inverted, 1973. Oldenburg’s early prints, such as Baked Pot<strong>at</strong>o with Butter, fe<strong>at</strong>ure “interplay between the paper surface <strong>and</strong> the image.” Thus, the paper was <strong>of</strong>ten h<strong>and</strong>made <strong>and</strong> textured. Here, corrug<strong>at</strong>ed cardboard was used in the printmaking process to give the background a fractured appearance. Oldenburg used the p<strong>at</strong>tern cre<strong>at</strong>ed by cardboard to convey the character <strong>of</strong> his studio: “The corrug<strong>at</strong>ed look was influenced by wh<strong>at</strong> I saw on boxes in the studio.” The lithograph print seen here is constructed in eight colors on white, thick, moder<strong>at</strong>ely textured Hodgkinson h<strong>and</strong>made paper. The work is signed <strong>and</strong> d<strong>at</strong>ed with graphite in the lower right corner. The edition number is found in graphite in the lower left corner; the copyright blind stamp is loc<strong>at</strong>ed in the lower right. Published by Petersburg Press, the work is <strong>of</strong> an edition <strong>of</strong> onehundred. The eight zinc pl<strong>at</strong>es used in printing include tan, light brow, blue-grey, yellow, brown, black, red-brown, <strong>and</strong> black. The work was exhibited in 1973, <strong>and</strong> multiple times throughout the early 1990s. References: Axsom, Richard H., <strong>and</strong> David Pl<strong>at</strong>zker. Printed Stuff: prints, posters, <strong>and</strong> ephemera by Claes Oldenburg: A c<strong>at</strong>alogue raisonee 1958-1996. New York: Hudsom Hills Press, 1997. Kelsey Weissgold ‘11 Ramkalawon, Jennifer. “Claes Oldenburg.” Simmons & Simmons . http://www.simmonscontemporary.com/artistinform<strong>at</strong>ion/_17/. 16 Memor<strong>and</strong>a for 16 Artists | 27
- Page 1 and 2: Curators at Work 16 Memoranda for t
- Page 3: 16 Memoranda for 16 artists The wor
- Page 6 and 7: 1 8 0 5 Attributed to Gilles-louis
- Page 8 and 9: 1 8 9 3 henri-eDMonD DelACroix, cal
- Page 10 and 11: 1 9 0 9 Arthur B. DAvies (American,
- Page 12 and 13: 1 9 2 3 Attilio PiCCirilli (America
- Page 14 and 15: 1 9 2 9 BlAnChe lAzzell (American,
- Page 16 and 17: 1 9 3 7 thoMAs hArt Benton (America
- Page 18 and 19: 1 9 4 5 MAx WeBer (American, 1881-1
- Page 20 and 21: 1 9 5 3 MArino MArini (italian, 190
- Page 22 and 23: 1 9 6 4 MAn rAY (American, 1890-197
- Page 24 and 25: 1 9 6 9 PABlo PiCAsso (spanish, 188
- Page 28 and 29: 1 9 7 4 JiM Dine (American, b. 1935
- Page 30 and 31: 1 9 7 8 JAsPer Johns (American, b.
- Page 32 and 33: 1 9 8 8 DonAlD K. sultAn (American,
- Page 34 and 35: 1 9 8 8 WAYne thieBAuD (American, b
- Page 36 and 37: 2 0 0 3 JAune QuiCK-to-see sMith (n
- Page 38 and 39: 2 0 0 3 JAune QuiCK-to-see sMith (n
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