Claes Oldenburg, Striding Figure, 1971

Claes Oldenburg

Striding Figure, from Conspiracy, the Artist as Witness

Color Silkscreen with enamel inks on CM Fabriano cotton watermarked 100% rag paper

Signed and numbered by the artist, front; bears distinctive blindstamp of the publisher, front; title and artist's copyright stamp on the back, APXII

28.5 x 20.75 inches

Reference
Axsom 76; Number 21 in "Printed Stuff : Prints, Posters and Ephemera by Claes Oldenburg : A Catalogue Raisonné‚ 1958-1996" by Claes Oldenburg, Richard H. Axsom, David Platzker. New York / Madison, NY / WI : Hudson Hills Press / Madison Art Center, 1997, p

Claes Oldenburg's 1962 "Striding Figure", a five-color silkscreen on watermarked 100% handmade rag paper, was proofed by the artist by hand in 1971 for the legendary portfolio "CONSPIRACY: the Artist as Witness", to raise money for the legal defense of the Chicago 8 - a group of anti-Vietnam War activists indicted by President Nixon's Attorney General John Mitchell for conspiring to riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. (1968 was also the year Bobby Kennedy was killed and American casualties in Vietnam exceeded 30,000.) The eight demonstrators included Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale. (Although Abbie Hoffman would later joke that these radicals couldn't even agree on lunch, the jury convicted them of conspiracy. All of the convictions were ultimately overturned by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Many collectors don't know that Oldenburg began his career as a reporter's apprentice and illustrator in Chicago before moving to New York in 1956, so it is fitting that he would choose to participate in this project to raise funds for the Chicago 7. (The original Oldenburg Striding figure is at MOMA - in case you're wondering why you recognize this. We were so excited to see the Museum had our print last visit - until we realized theirs was the original drawing!!)

Catalogue Raisonné Reference: 76, Axsom+Platzker
"Striding Figure" has superb provenance: it comes directly from the original Portfolio: "Conspiracy The Artist as Witness" which also featured works by Alexander Calder, Jack Beal, Romare Bearden Leon Golub-Nancy Spero, Robert Morris, Larry Poons, Peter Saul, Raphael Soyer and Frank Stella, Sol Lewitt- as well as this work by Claes Oldenburg. It was housed in an elegant cloth case, accompanied by a colophon page with information on the artists, and a book with excerpts from the trial. This is the first time since 1971 that this important print has been removed from the original portfolio case for sale. It bears the distinctive chop mark of Styria Studio.