The Library
Interpreting Tom Wesselmann’s nudes : pop, prurience and pragmatism in 1960s New York
Tools
Towler, Lucinda Sarah (2022) Interpreting Tom Wesselmann’s nudes : pop, prurience and pragmatism in 1960s New York. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
|
PDF
WRAP_Theses_Towler_2022.pdf - Submitted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (1588Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3921800
Abstract
Discussions of Tom Wesselmann's series of one hundred Great American Nudes have remained unchanged, and unchallenged, since the artist emerged on the New York art scene in the early 1960s. Whilst general descriptions allude to the sexual liberation of the era, Wesselmann is considered in terms of his assertion that he was a formalist whose primary interest was the solving of pictorial problems - something he detailed when he published his monograph in 1980. Contextualising erotic content as relating to his relationship with his wife and model, Wesselmann was adamant that his nudes bore no relation to the social environment in which they were created. However, an interview undertaken in 1984, sees Wesselmann provide evidence to the contrary, as he talked about the female body in ways which focused attention on its sexual characteristics and described body parts by using surprisingly vulgar language.
Approaching these two resources as presenting a dialogue between Wesselmann's public artistic persona and one which suggested a ‘locker room’ attitude towards women, I examine the Great American Nudes in the context of the social and political environment of sixties America, highlighting the complexity of contemporary gender debates. I suggest what shaped his approach to the erotic female body during the decade and how it was indicative of the widespread mass media sexualisation of women and argue that this increased in correlation to changes made to American obscenity laws. This combines a re-evaluation of Matisse's influence - not only artistically but in terms of how the artist established himself as the epitome of domestic heteronormativity; a consideration of how Wesselmann’s nudes provided visual equivalents of Henry Miller's prose and the purpose this served; and an exploration of John Dewey's pragmatist theory, which emphasised the importance of everyday experience and explore whether an aesthetics of the erotic offers a more nuanced way of approaching Wesselmann’s nudes than is afforded by adopting a male gaze.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Wesselmann, Tom, 1931-2004 -- Criticism and interpretation, Nude in art -- 20th century, Pop art -- 20th century, Art, Modern -- 20th century | ||||
Official Date: | November 2022 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Hatt, Michael, 1960- | ||||
Sponsors: | University of Warwick. Humanities Research Centre | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | x, 254 pages | ||||
Language: | eng |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |