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Artworks
Tom Wesselmann
Sketch for Smoking Cigarette #1 (Painting), 1980Liquitex on bristol board17 by 21 cm (6⅝ by 8¼ in.)Signed 'Wesselmann' and dated '80' (lower center)67478© Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NYFurther images
Executed in 1980. Sketch for Smoking Cigarette #1 (Painting) exemplifies Tom Wesselmann’s pivotal Smoker series—an extension of the artist’s exploration of the female nude—in which he advanced his investigation of...Executed in 1980.Sketch for Smoking Cigarette #1 (Painting) exemplifies Tom Wesselmann’s pivotal Smoker series—an extension of the artist’s exploration of the female nude—in which he advanced his investigation of reduced form and composition while maintaining his focus on sensual subject matter. In the present work, a haze of grey smoke wafting atop a lit cigarette is centered against a monochromatic black surface. The sharply outlined shadows cast from the mounted cigarette produce a subtle three-dimensional effect and complement the rigid colors of the composition. Contrasting against the work’s hard lines, the twisting rhythmic curves of the grey cloud beget familiar shapes—like bird wings—that imbue the work with a sense of playfulness. In appropriating commonly mundane imagery, Sketch for Smoking Cigarette #1 (Painting) demonstrates Wesselmann’s ability to transform the familiar everyday into the unexpectedly alluring.