Montreal, February 1, 2012 – Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) was one of the greatest American Pop artists.
Famous from the early 1960s for his “Great American Nude” series and still lifes, since his death he is
nonetheless the only one of his contemporaries associated with that seminal twentieth-century art
movement who has not yet had a major exhibition devoted to his work. A single survey exhibition of the
artist’s work was mounted in Japan in 1993 and travelled to Europe the following year. On view in a
Canadian exclusive from May 18 to October 7, 2012, the exhibition Tom Wesselmann: A Retrospective will
show the evolution in the work of this artist, whose focus on the process of stylization casts him as an heir to
such great French masters as Ingres and Matisse. His interpretation of the history of art and the definition of
genres led him, along with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, to invent a new, Pop, aesthetic. The exhibition
will bring together some 150 works – seventy-five paintings, plus plastic bas-reliefs, cut-outs and polychrome
wood sculptures, a number of them very large – representing the artist’s most significant series, as well as
seventy-five preliminary drawings and maquettes. Archival materials (photographs, letters, books and
magazines, billboards and so on) will further enhance the presentation. Through major works, some of which
have never before been exhibited, the retrospective will endeavour to demonstrate the historical
significance and contemporary relevance of this great American master. It will feature loans from various
leading public and private collections, as well as from the artist’s estate. The exhibition has been organized
by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, with the collaboration of the Estate of Tom Wesselmann, New York.
Most people are aware of Tom Wesselmann’s brilliant career as a painter. However, amongst many other
things, he was also a devoted fan of country music and a prolific songwriter in that musical genre. Music was
not simply a hobby for Tom Wesselmann, but another creative outlet, and he put all his energy into it. By the
end of his life, he had written over 400 songs, a number of which were recorded. One of his compositions, “I
Love Doing Texas with You,” sung by Kevin Trainor, even gained a certain amount of notoriety by being
included on the soundtrack for the Ang Lee film Brokeback Mountain. Given the place that music now
occupies at the Museum, some of Tom Wesselmann’s musical works will also be showcased in the
exhibition.
