Not currently on display at the V&A

Soft Screw in Waterfall

Print
1976 (printed and published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The American Pop artist Claes Oldenburg (born 1929) is famous for sculptures of everyday objects, ranging from hamburgers to typewriters - made to a relatively gigantic scale - out of cloth and soft stuffing. He had a fundamental dislike of printmaking, but when persuaded and assisted by master craftsmen he was able to exercise his talent for drawing through lithography and produce prints that had the same weird qualities of scale and distortion he brought to his sculptures. This is one of a suite of eight gigantic prints of 'soft' screws, each of which Oldenburg prepared for carefully, first making numerous studies and then taking a day over each drawing in the suite.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSoft Screw in Waterfall (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Lithograph on paper
Brief description
Claes Oldenburg, 'Soft Screw in Waterfall'. From a series of eight lithographs entitled 'Soft Screw', 1976
Physical description
Large screw set in suggestion of landscape freely-drawn in black
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 171.5cm
  • Sheet width: 114.3cm
Production typeLimited edition
Copy number
18/35. From a series of eight lithographs entitled Soft Screw
Marks and inscriptions
  • Oldenburg (Signature; graphite)
  • 18/35
  • © 1976 CLAES OLDENBURG (blind stamping)
  • (Publisher's identification; blind stamping)
Subjects depicted
Summary
The American Pop artist Claes Oldenburg (born 1929) is famous for sculptures of everyday objects, ranging from hamburgers to typewriters - made to a relatively gigantic scale - out of cloth and soft stuffing. He had a fundamental dislike of printmaking, but when persuaded and assisted by master craftsmen he was able to exercise his talent for drawing through lithography and produce prints that had the same weird qualities of scale and distortion he brought to his sculptures. This is one of a suite of eight gigantic prints of 'soft' screws, each of which Oldenburg prepared for carefully, first making numerous studies and then taking a day over each drawing in the suite.
Bibliographic reference
Timmers, Margaret (ed), Impressions of the Twentieth Century: Fine Art Prints from the V&A's Collection, London, V&A Publications, 2001
Collection
Accession number
E.758-1976

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Record createdDecember 21, 2002
Record URL
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