‘Get wild’: 10 things to know about Tom Wesselmann
Staff | Christie’s | 11th July 2026
A backgrounder. After trying his hand at cartooning, Wesselmann got interested in art, moved to New York and became an important Pop artist. Steering away from abstract expressionism, his breakthrough came with Pop-styled nudes, both figures and body parts such as “seductive, ominous mouths”. He also had a long interest in collage, making still lifes with advertising material. The writer hastens to add that during the 1960’s sexual revolution “Wesselmann is able to toe the line very gracefully”.