Exhibitions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE & LISTING

TOM WESSELMANN
WORKS ON PAPER RETROSPECTIVE: 1960-2004
CURATED BY KATE WESSELMANN
NOVEMBER 1-DECEMBER 23, 2005

Throughout his long and distinguished career, Tom Wesselmann's massive multi-media works, 3-D assemblages, and shaped canvases were always supported by a detailed and comprehensive series of studies and drawings on various types of paper. No matter what series of work Wesselmann was immersed in, the drawing remained Wesselmann's catalyst his entire working life. The evidence of the many changes in Wesselmann's painting style was typically foreshadowed by the drawings and studies. When his large bodies of paintings changed, it was due to his rendering of the studies he had altered.

The Maxwell Davidson Gallery is delighted to present this first retrospective of Tom Wesselmann's works on paper in over 15 years, which is curated by Kate Wesselmann, this artist's youngest daughter. Ms. Wesselmann has also written the foreword to the 124-page hard cover catalogue, which will illustrate all of the forty-four drawings in the exhibition. Of these drawings, most have never been seen before. Ms. Wesselmann's curatorial experience stems from the last four years working alongside her father at his studio making her an obvious choice to assemble an exhibition that will present an array of important drawings spanning five decades.

This exhibition ties together many important examples of the artist's forty-five year career; introducing pencil drawings and collages from the early 1960's, then transitioning into multiple studies on single sheets of paper. While this retrospective is particularly rich in the work of the 1960's, the main agenda of the show is to represent the changing stylistic approaches that Wesselmann executed during his career. For example, the exhibition will have three large (40 x 60 inches) drawings from the 1980's that demonstrate Wesselmann's acute attention to detail, a distinct technical change in this particular decade. Also included are a number of works from the 1990's up to the time of Wesselmann's death in 2004. These works include Wesselmann's studies for laser-cuts as well as more abstract works.

There are many individual highlights that can be singled out. During the selection of the drawings, the gallery and Ms. Wesselmann thought to try and include as many different examples within Wesselmann's three main subject matters; the nude, the still life and the landscape. Of particular note is Study for Bedroom Painting #75, 1983, a large drawing in liquitex of a nude, which integrates the simplistic Matisse-like charcoal lines with a boldly colored background. In contrast, the sporadic quick sketch that comes together in Drawing for Still Life #51, 1964, shows the free hand of the artist, and his ability to draw articulately yet rapidly. In Drawing for Landscape 2, 1964, this work demonstrates a final stage of the artist before he went to the canvas. This drawing is the last known Study for Landscape 2, which resides at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.

For a full color catalogue or further information, please contact Tara Marino at info@davidsongallery.com.