Tom Wesselmann: The Great American Nude

Tom Wesselmann: The Great American Nude is the first comprehensive monograph dedicated to the artist’s most significant body of work. Made during the ascendancy of Pop art, the Great American Nudes (1961–73) combine sensual depictions of the female figure with references to art history and popular culture. In these large-scale, sometimes multimedia paintings, Wesselmann developed an iconography that is distinctly contemporary and overtly American, with many compositions incorporating a red, white, and blue palette and other touchstones of national identity.

The book reproduces in full color—in many cases, for the first time—the one hundred numbered works in the series, along with studies, related paintings from other series, and archival photographs. A five-chapter text by Susan Davidson addresses the origins, development, and reception of this body of work, introducing Wesselmann’s paintings as icons of American culture made during the sexual revolution and other cultural upheavals of the 1960s, while also discussing the artist’s artistic ambitions and his evolving attitudes to sexuality. Rachel Middleman contributes an essay considering Claire Wesselmann (née Selley), the artist’s wife and frequent model; erotic art of the 1960s; and works by Marjorie Strider and Martha Edelheit. A comprehensive chronology by Lauren Mahony contextualizes the series within Wesselmann’s career and the fast-changing culture of the US in the 1960s.