Arriving in New York in the late 1950s, at the height of the influence of Abstract Expressionism and Clement Greenberg’s theories of formalism, Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) sought to reject the prevailing trend of abstraction in favor of traditional art historical subjects: the nude, still life, and landscape. Embracing everyday objects sourced from consumer culture, Wesselmann became a pioneer of the American Pop movement, beginning his iconic series of Great American Nude paintings in 1961, almost simultaneously with Roy Lichtenstein's experiments in comic strip imagery and Andy Warhol's first appropriations of current events and commercial products.

Featuring an eroticized, contemporary take on the tradition of the female nude—inspired both by the nudes of Henri Matisse and by contemporary magazine pin-up imagery—Wesselmann’s Great American Nudes disrupt the typical, postwar American interiors in which they are situated. Laden with patriotic colors and references to the stars and stripes, these homes include the latest consumer goods, from packaged food products to home appliances, often collaged into his compositions from advertisements. In the mid ‘60s, Wesselmann would begin to include the physical objects themselves; such as glass soda bottles and radiators, pink refrigerators, and telephones. Wesselmann would continue the series for a total of 101 paintings, bringing the body of work to a close with Great American Nude #100 in 1973. 

In this important early example from the series, Great American Nude No. 27, Wesselmann includes all his signature imagery and techniques from the series. Contrasting collaged elements with hand-painted passages, the suggestive, cotton-candy pink nude with glossy lips is splayed across the patriotically colored bedroom, replete with a patterned bedspread, polka dot curtains, and a television. A line-up of enticing ice cream sundaes and milkshakes are collaged onto the bottom register of the composition, suggesting the seductive promises of consumerism.

In many examples from the Great American Nude series, Wesselmann collages posters or postcards of iconic paintings—from the Mona Lisa to modernist images by Picasso and Matisse—but Great American Nude No. 27 is distinct in its inclusion of an image drawn from contemporary art. On the screen of the television in the background of the bedroom, Wesselmann has cleverly included a black and white photograph featuring the artist himself dancing with his wife Claire, Lucas Samaras, Judy Tersch, Carl Lehmann-Haupt, and Claes Oldenburg, among others. This image was taken during Claes Oldenburg’s Happening Circus: Ironworks/Fotodeath, performed at the Reuben Gallery in February of 1961.