Oldenburg (1929 – 2022)is a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations and other renditions of everyday objects. His first recorded sales of artworks were at the 57th Street Art Fair in Chicago, where he sold five items for a total of $25! He moved to NYC and began producing sculptures containing simply rendered figures, letters and signs, inspired by the Lower East Side neighborhood where he lived. His first show that included three-dimensional works was in 1959 at the Judson Gallery on Washington Square, after which the renowned artist Robert Beauchamp described Oldenburg as “brilliant.” Oldenburg has won many prestigious prizes in art, including the “Wolf Prize in Arts” in 1989 and the “National Medal of Arts” in 2000; also, he has received honorary degrees from universities around the world, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Royal College of Art, London.
