© nikolay vinokurov

The artist Tom Wesselmann worked in painting, collage and sculpture and developed into one of the best-known pop art artists in the 1960s. Wesselmann’s works often stylized the feminine form, encapsulating elements of American life and consumer culture. Wesselmann initially started as an illustrator of comics and men’s magazines. In his early years he made small collages of photos from magazines and later devoted himself to the female nude which he portrayed in many forms. He combined figurative painting with large, enlarged representations of everyday objects, giving his work a stylized character. He was acclaimed in the art world for his series Great American Nude, in which he depicts numerous patriotic scenes.