Tom Wesselmann — Unique For Sale

Overview

This selection brings together unique works by Tom Wesselmann — the one-off paintings, studies, collages and drawings that stand apart from his editioned output. A leading figure of American Pop art, Wesselmann emerged in the early 1960s alongside Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, forging a bold, sensuous visual language of the nude, the still life and the landscape. These singular works offer collectors direct access to the artist's hand at every stage of his career. Guy Hepner presents unique Tom Wesselmann works at our New York gallery.

An American Pop Pioneer

Wesselmann made his name with the Great American Nude series, begun in 1961 — a body of collage and assemblage work that fused the flat, high-key colour of advertising with the grand tradition of the reclining nude. Working with billboard fragments, printed imagery and everyday objects, he built compositions that were at once cool and voluptuous, commercial and classical. The unique works gathered here trace that sensibility across five decades.

Range of the Unique Works

The span is remarkable. Early pieces such as Still Life #23 (1962), an oil, fabric and printed-paper collage on fiberboard, capture the assemblage energy of Wesselmann's breakthrough years. Preparatory studies — Nude Drawing (For Erotic Nude), Study For Carol Nude, Open Ended Nude #103 — reveal the draughtsmanship beneath the finished paintings, executed in pencil and thinned Liquitex. Later works push into new materials and formats, from the Seascape Dropout woodcut on Japanese Kizuki Hanga paper (1982) to Back To Blue (1998), an oil on aluminium, and the luminous Sunset Nude (Variation #1) (2002).

Because each is a singular object rather than an edition, these works carry the full record of Wesselmann's decision-making — the reworked line, the collaged edge, the shift from board to canvas to shaped metal.

Collecting Unique Wesselmann Works

Unique works represent the most direct and personal way to collect Wesselmann, complementing his prints and editions. Guy Hepner Gallery offers authenticated unique Wesselmann works with full provenance documentation. Contact our New York team to discuss current availability and acquisition.

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