Pop Art meets Abstract Expressionism: Tom Wesselmann's “Monica in Robe with Motherwell”
Born in Cincinnati in 1931, Tom Wesselmann moved to New York to study at the Cooper Union in 1956. The young artist soon found inspiration in the city's vibrant art scene and numerous museums. On a visit to MoMA, he came across Robert Motherwell's large-scale painting “Elegy to the Spanish Republic 54” (1957-61) for the first time. This encounter with a work associated with Abstract Expressionism was a formative experience. Tom Wesselmann later described it as his first aesthetic experience. In a publication about his artistic development, which he released in 1980 under the pseudonym Slim Stealingworth, he wrote: "The first aesthetic experience..He felt a sensation of high visceral excitement in his stomach, and it seemed as though his eyes and stomach were directly connected." (Slim Stealingworth, Tom Wesselmann, New York 1980, p. 12) He wanted to convey the feeling he had experienced seeing Robert Motherwell's painting in his artistic work. Surprisingly, however, he did not turn to abstraction but found a figurative visual language inspired by the rapidly spreading pop art movement. The highly stylized, provocative female nude, which he repeatedly recreates with changing attributes and in bright colors, quickly became his trademark and is considered one of the icons of American pop art today.


In “Monica in Robe with Motherwell” from 1992, the two profoundly American artistic movements of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, so contradictory at first glance, finally converged in visual form. In the foreground of his metal work, Tom Wesselmann depicts a lascivious female nude with a half-open robe in his minimalist style. In the background, one can recognize a stylized version of Robert Motherwell's “Elegy to the Spanish Republic XXXIV” from 1953-1954. Along with the newly emerging metal works reminiscent of wall drawings, a new model also appeared in Tom Wesselmann's works in the 1980s: the young artist and musician Monica Serra with her striking bangs. The year this work was created, it was first shown at the legendary Sidney Janis Gallery in New York. The gallery owner had already made a name for himself in the 1950s with exhibitions of Abstract Expressionism. Shortly thereafter, he became one of the most important dealers of Pop Art. Tom Wesselmann's “Monica in Robe with Motherwell” subtly combines cross-references and personal nuances that give the work a special place in the artist's oeuvre. It can be viewed as an homage to his idol, the painter Robert Motherwell, who had passed away a year earlier. [AR]