Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Claes Oldenburg
Lipstick Ascending the Caterpillar Tracks, plus Novum Organum No. 7, Yale Univ.

1969

About the Item

Claes Oldenburg Lipstick Ascending the Caterpillar Tracks (Print), plus Novum Organum No. 7, Yale University (broadside), 1969 Print is a Photo offset lithograph on two sided paper, plus separate broadside on offset lithograph Hand signed boldly in black marker and numbered 116 34 × 24 inches Published by Yale University, New Haven, CT Unframed Note: This print is THE original 1969 photolithograph - not to be confused with the poster or later editioned works created in the 1970s. See history below: This listing features 2 Elements: (1) A 2 sided photolithograph of the installation plans for Oldenburg's monumental lipstick sculpture- installed at the height of the pop art movement - a large military tank with a monumental tube of lipstick sprouting out of it appearing uninvited on Yale University's campus in 1969 amidst heated protests against the Vietnam war. This signed and numbered print is based upon Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks - a weathering steel sculpture by Claes Oldenburg. It is located at Morse College Courtyard, Yale University. An architecture student, Stuart Wrede, and a group of architecture students raised money, under the name of the Colossal Keepsake Corporation of Connecticut, and worked in collaboration with the artist. In addition to the pictured front side, the print also has a back side of arranged text and articles from press releases and statements published by the "Colossal Keepsake Corporation of Connecticut," The work was installed on May 15, 1969, in Beinecke Plaza at Yale University, as a speakers' platform for anti-war protests. It had a soft, inflated lipstick section, and wooden treads. The lipstick was also laden with symbolism, as women were admitted to Yale for the first time in the Fall of 1969. Over the next few years, the sculpture deteriorated and was removed by Oldenburg in March 1970. It was redone in weathering steel and fiberglass, and reinstalled at Morse College, on October 17, 1974. It has been shown at the Guggenheim Museum and The National Gallery of Art. While the sculpture may have seemed like a playful, if elaborate artistic joke, Claes Oldenburg’s Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks was also deeply critical of the war. (Oldenburg made the 24-foot-high sculpture in collaboration with architecture students at his alma mater and then surreptitiously delivered it to Yale’s Beinecke Plaza.) In Beinecke Plaza, the sculpture overlooked both the office of Yale’s president and a prominent World War I memorial. Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks became a visible symbol of the anti-war movement that sprung up on college campuses, while also poking fun at the solemnity of the plaza in the academy (Yale). The sculpture served as a stage and backdrop for several subsequent student protests. This is the ORIGINAL photolithographic print published in 1969, that was included inside the broadside that accompanies it. It is hand signed by Oldenburg and numbered 116. There was also a pink edition of this print, also published in 1969, an example of which is held in the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery. Below is an excerpt from the Tate Gallery website, which describes some of the later editions produced AFTER this original one: "...Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks is a print of a drawing of the large-scale outdoor sculpture of the same name produced in 1969 (Yale University, New Haven). It represents a side-elevation drawing of a giant retractable lipstick mounted on the chassis of a tank-like vehicle with caterpillar tracks. The chassis has been squared up for enlargement, with calculations added. The drawing reproduced in this print provided the basis for an abandoned heliogravure print in 1971, realised in 1972 as a six-colour lithograph produced in an edition of one hundred copies (published by Paul Bianchini, New York). This print, however, was produced in 1969 in a broadsheet print magazine published by architecture students at Yale celebrating the gift of the sculpture to the university (Novum Organum no.7, Special ‘Colossal Monument’ Issue, 15 May 1969). The print was conceived as a work in its own right and was included in the publication Oldenburg: Works in Edition (1971)..." The second element in this lot is even more scarce - see description below: (2) Novum Organum, No. 7: Special “Colossal Monument” Issue focusing on recent gift of Claes Oldenburg’s “Lipstick Ascending on Caterpillar Tracks” - May 15, 1969, Broadside: photo offset and screenprint (recto and verso) Sheet: 86.4 x 55.9 cm (34 x 22 in.) This is the Edition the Yale University Novum Organum, No. 7: Special “Colossal Monument” Issue focusing on recent gift of Claes Oldenburg’s “Lipstick Ascending on Caterpillar Tracks” This historic Yale University student publication is so scarce - the only other copy we've ever seen is at the Yale University Art Gallery's archives -- donated by the very architecture student who instigated the whole installation! A piece of Pop Art and Anti-War history. RARE Bibliography: Yale University Art Gallery Archives Tate Gallery (online) Oldenburg: Works in Edition (1971)
  • Creator:
    Claes Oldenburg (1929, American, Swedish)
  • Creation Year:
    1969
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 34 in (86.36 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1745211775732
More From This SellerView All
  • Hockney's Alphabet, portfolio of 26 lithographs signed by Hockney and 23 writers
    By David Hockney
    Located in New York, NY
    David Hockney Hockney's Alphabet, 1991 26 color lithographs in Fine Art Cartridge paper bound in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, housed in matching box; signed by David Hockney and most contributors in ink and numbered 178 in black ink on the justification page Numbered 178/250 Hand signed by 24 of the contributors, including David Hockney and Steven Spender 12 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches Bound in book and held in slipcase This portfolio features 26 color lithographs in Fine Art Cartridge paper with full margins, bound as issued, in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, in original grey slipcase. It is signed by David Hockney (the artist) and most contributors in ink and numbered 178 in black ink on the justification page, from the edition of 250, with full text and title page, published by Faber & Faber, London, text edits by Stephen Spender, who also signed. It is illustrated by David Hockney, hand signed by David Hockney and Stephen Spender and also signed by the following contributors: Douglas Adams, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Margaret Drabble, Patrick Leigh Fermor, William Golding, Seamus Heaney...
    Category

    1990s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Ink, Mixed Media, Vellum, Lithograph, Board, Pencil, Offset

  • Wrapped Painting, print of first North American building Christo wrapped (1969)
    By Christo
    Located in New York, NY
    Christo Wrap In Wrap Out ("Wrapped Painting") for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Chicago, the first North American building Christo ever wrapped, 1969 Offset lithograph printe...
    Category

    1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Offset, Lithograph, Laid Paper, Pencil

  • David Hockney at Castelli Graphics
    By David Hockney
    Located in New York, NY
    David Hockney David Hockney at Castelli Graphics, 1981 Offset Lithograph poster 20 × 16 inches Unframed Rare 1981 poster published on the occasion of the r...
    Category

    1980s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Offset

  • The Wrapped (MCA), Chicago 1969 (Limited Edition of 200, Hand Signed by Christo)
    By Christo and Jeanne-Claude
    Located in New York, NY
    Christo and Jeanne-Claude The Wrapped (MCA), 1969 (Hand Signed), 2019 Four-color offset lithograph on 110 lb. Crane Lettra Cover stock, with an elegant gold foil stamp. Hand Signed by Christo 22 3/5 × 30 inches Edition of 200 Hand-signed by artist, Signed in graphite pencil by Christo on the front. Also elegant gold foil stamp. Unnumbered from the documented limited edition of only 200 Published by Museum of Contemporary Art, (MCA) Chicago Unframed A great gift for anyone with ties to Chicago! This limited-edition, hand signed offset lithograph on 110 lb. Crane Lettra Cover stock commemorates Christo's exhibition "Wrap In Wrap Out", which took place at the MCA’s original location on 237 East Ontario Street, Chicago. The project became the first public building Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, wrapped in the United States. In an illuminating 2010 article entitled, "A daring plan to wrap a Chicago museum raises city ire – and makes art history," author Robin Amer recounts how Christo came to choose Chicago -- or rather how Chicago chose New York based artist Christo: "During a recent conversation he [Christo] ticked off the list of buildings he approached in downtown Manhattan starting in 1961. “Number 2 Broadway, number 20 Exchange Place,” he recalled. “We tried to wrap a building at Times Square. They all said no. Christo said he quickly realized that his best hope to wrap a building – his first in North America – would be to wrap a museum, which might be more amenable to his strange proposition.Christo and Jeanne-Claude approached New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1967. The museum was interested, but Christo said they failed to secure permission for the show from the New York Fire...
    Category

    1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Foil

  • LOVE in Central Park, New York Pencil Signed and numbered 66/89, Historic print
    By Robert Indiana
    Located in New York, NY
    Robert Indiana LOVE in Central Park, New York, 1971 Color lithograph on wove paper. Pencil signed, dated and numbered with LOVE drawing/flourish Hand-signed by artist, Pencil signed, dated and numbered 66/ 89. Also bears a drawing of the stacked letters LOVE in pencil. Bears Robert Indiana's copyright Published by Robert Indiana and printed by the American Poster Company to raise money for Central Park 39 × 30 inches Unframed This impressively large 1971 lithograph - pencil signed and numbered from the limited edition of only 89, with a stacked LOVE drawing on the front - depicts Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE sculpture (from the permanent collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art) when it was exhibited at Central Park in New York City. This was the turn of the decade of the 1970s - during the height of the anti-Vietnam War protests of the Nixon Administration, when the presence of Indiana's monumental cor-ten steel LOVE in Central Park took on a much deeper significance in New York and indeed the country. This important print is pencil signed, dated and numbered by Robert Indiana from the very small edition of only 89. It also bears a drawing - a flourish - of the word LOVE written by the artist in pencil. Very few of the signed editions of this print remain -- so it is rarely seen on the market. Indeed, eighty nine (89) is a very small edition; however, this oversized print was used for promotional purposes in public places, so very few of the 89 signed and numbered works remain - let alone with the original stacked love drawing. . If you LOVE Robert Indiana...
    Category

    1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph, Pencil, Offset

  • Offset Lithograph Poster
    By Larry Rivers
    Located in New York, NY
    Larry Rivers Offset Lithograph Poster Offset Lithograph Poster on Wove Paper Plate signed (Printed Signature) 32 × 30 inches Unframed Rare vintage 1970s Larry Rivers offset lithogr...
    Category

    1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Offset

You May Also Like
  • Symbolic Self-Portrait with Equals
    By Claes Oldenburg
    Located in New York, NY
    A very good impression of this color offset lithograph on white, thick, smooth Louvain Supreme Vellum Bristol 150-pound paper. Signed and numbered 190/300 in pencil. Printed by Color...
    Category

    1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Vellum, Color, Lithograph, Offset

  • Keith Haring Paradise Garage Exhibit Poster 'Keith Haring Jeffrey Deitch'
    By Keith Haring
    Located in NEW YORK, NY
    Rare vintage Keith Haring exhibition poster published on the occasion of: ‘Paradise Garage: Keith Haring and Music, December 14, 2000-February 10, 2001, Deitch Projects, 18 Wooster ...
    Category

    1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Paper, Lithograph, Offset

  • Keith Haring 1987 illustration art (vintage Keith Haring Yale University)
    By Keith Haring
    Located in NEW YORK, NY
    Keith Haring 1987: The Yale Vernacular 1987, featuring classic cover art by Keith Haring. A rare stand-out vintage 1980s Keith Haring collectible that would look fantastic framed. Fe...
    Category

    1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Offset, Paper

  • Vintage Pop Art 1997 Offset Lithograph Larry Rivers Music Poster Hamptons NY
    By Larry Rivers
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Larry Rivers "The Music Festival of the Hamptons / July 18-27 1997" poster, Not hand signed. [Dimensions: 24" H x 18" W] Larry Rivers (born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg) (1923 – 2002) was an American artist, musician, filmmaker, and occasional actor. Considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" and "Grandfather" of Pop art, he was one of the first artists to merge non-objective, non-narrative art with narrative and objective abstraction. Rivers took up painting in 1945 and studied at the Hans Hofmann School from 1947–48. He earned a BA in art education from New York University in 1951. His work was quickly acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. A 1953 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware was damaged in fire at the museum five years later. He was a pop artist of the New York School, reproducing everyday objects of American popular culture as art. He was one of eleven New York artists featured in the opening exhibition at the Terrain Gallery in 1955 along with Paul Mommer, Leonard Baskin, Peter Grippe During the early 1960s Rivers lived in the Hotel Chelsea, notable for its artistic residents such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Arthur C. Clarke, Dylan Thomas, Sid Vicious and multiple people associated with Andy Warhol Factory and where he brought several of his French nouveau réalistes friends like Yves Klein who wrote there in April 1961 his Manifeste de l'hôtel Chelsea, Arman, Martial Raysse, Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Christo & Jean Claude, Daniel Spoerri or Alain Jacquet, several of whom, like Rivers, left some pieces of art in the lobby of the hotel for payment of their rooms. In 1965, Rivers had his first comprehensive retrospective in five important American museums. His final work for the exhibition was The History of the Russian Revolution, which was later on extended permanent display at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. He spent 1967 in London collaborating with the American painter Howard Kanovitz. In 1968, Rivers traveled to Africa for a second time with Pierre Dominique Gaisseau to finish their documentary Africa and I, which was a part of the groundbreaking NBC series Experiments in Television. During this trip they narrowly escaped execution as suspected mercenaries. During the 1970s, Rivers worked closely with Diana Molinari and Michel Auder on many video tape projects, including the infamous Tits, and also worked in neon. Rivers's legs appeared in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 film Up Your Legs Forever. From 1940–1945 he worked as a jazz saxophonist in New York City, changing his name to Larry Rivers in 1940 after being introduced as "Larry Rivers and the Mudcats" at a local pub. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music in 1945–46, along with Miles Davis, with whom he remained friends until Davis's death in 1991. Larry Rivers was born in the Bronx to Samuel and Sonya Grossberg, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. In 1945, he married Augusta Berger, and they had one son, Steven. Rivers also adopted Berger's son from a previous relationship, Joseph, and reared both children after the couple divorced. In 1949 he had his first one-man exhibition at the Jane Street Gallery in New York. This same year, he met and became friends with John Ashbery, and Kenneth Koch. In 1950 he met Frank O’Hara. This same year he took his first trip to Europe spending eight months in Paris, France, reading and writing poetry. Beginning in 1950 and continuing until Frank’s death in July of 1966, Larry Rivers and Frank O’Hara cultivated a uniquely creative friendship that produced numerous collaborations, as well as inspired paintings and poems. In 1951 Rivers’ works were shown at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery where he continued to show annually (except 1955) for about 10 years. In 1954 he had his first exhibition of sculptures at the Stable Gallery, New York. In 1955 The Museum of Modern Art acquired Washington Crossing the Delaware. This same year he won 3rd prize in the Corcoran Gallery national painting competition for “Self-Figure.” Rivers’ also painted “Double Portrait of Berdie” in 1955, which was soon purchased by the Whitney Museum. In 1957 he and Frank O’Hara began work on “Stones,” a collaborative mix of images and poetry in a series of lithograph for Tatyana Grosman company ULAE. During this time he also appeared on the television game show “The $64,000.00 Question” where along with another contestant, they both won, each receiving $32,000.00. In 1958 he again spent time in Paris and played in various jazz bands. In 1959 he painted Cedar Bar Menu...
    Category

    1990s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph, Offset

  • Sigmar Polke, Oelbild (Näherin - Limited Edition, German Pop Art, Original Print
    By Sigmar Polke
    Located in Hamburg, DE
    Sigmar Polke Oelbild (Näherin), 1967 Medium: Offset lithograph on card stock Dimensions: 9 3/10 × 9 3/10 in 23.5 × 23.5 cm Edition of 500: Not signed (as issued) Condition: Excellent
    Category

    20th Century Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Offset

  • Ed Ruscha: OKLA, Original Oklahoma Contemporary Exhibition Poster, Oklahoma-E
    By Ed Ruscha
    Located in Hamburg, DE
    Original Oklahoma Contemporary exhibition poster, based on Ed Ruscha’s pencil and charcoal drawing named Oklahoma-E from 1962. Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937) Ed Ruscha: OKLA, 2021 Me...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Offset

Recently Viewed

View All