Baked Potato with Butter

Claes Oldenburg became a prominent figure in the Happenings and Performance art movements of the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1959, the Judson Gallery exhibited a series of Oldenburg's enigmatic images, ranging from monstrous human figures to everyday objects and made from a mix of drawings, collages, and papier-mâché. Oldenburg used the potato as his subject in many different works, recreating the image of the baked potato across a range of media: soft sculpture, cast resin, drawings, and—as here—prints. This large lithograph of a bright bold oversized baked potato with butter is at once ordinary, heroic, and humorous. It is also a food that represents the fulfillment of craving and comfort to the individual who consumes it.

Inez Olszewski ‘22

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