Lot 39 D

Claes Oldenburg is known for his oversized sculptures with which he satirised everyday objects and put them in an unusual context. For “Cross Section of a Toothbrush with paste”, he was quite simply inspired by an everyday scene in his bathroom – a toothbrush with toothpaste in a red toothbrush mug standing on the edge of the washbasin. It was the idea of his partner Coosje van Bruggen to cut out a narrow slice using only two precise cuts, creating an abstract shape. This resulted in a triangular construction when viewed from the side, reminiscent of the design vocabulary of constructivism and the De Stijl movement. At the same time, however, the motif of the toothbrush can still be recognised. Viewed from the front, only a narrow, seemingly completely abstract strip of colour remains visible.

On offer here is the model that Oldenburg used in order to visualise his pictorial idea. The present artwork belongs to a small number of models according to which the artist was commissioned by the Krefeld Art Museum to create a six-meter-high outdoor sculpture. It has been installed on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the museum on the grounds of Haus Esters in 1983 and can still be viewed there today. With its reduced form, it does indeed correspond to the unpretentious, cubist architecture designed by Mies van der Rohe. Conversely, it sets a clear counterpoint through the use of colour and its unmistakable identity as a work of Pop Art – a tongue-in-cheek provocation.
In 1987, the artist couple was, yet again, active in Haus Esters; one component of their exhibition “The Haunted House” is also a life-size textile version of the outdoor sculpture from the grounds of the museum.