Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks

Summary

Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks is a weathering steel sculpture by Claes Oldenburg. It is located at Morse College Courtyard, at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut.[2][3]

Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks
ArtistClaes Oldenburg
Year1969
Typeweathering steel
Dimensions740 cm × 760 cm × 330 cm (292 in × 299 in × 131 in)
LocationYale University, Connecticut
Coordinates41°18′46″N 72°55′48″W / 41.31291500°N 72.93009800°W / 41.31291500; -72.93009800[1]
OwnerYale University

History edit

Stuart Wrede and a group of fellow Yale architecture students raised money under the name of the Colossal Keepsake Corporation of Connecticut, working in collaboration with Oldenburg, who charged no fee for his work. The piece was installed on the campus on May 15, 1969, in Beinecke Plaza, as a speakers' platform for anti-war protests.[4] (In the autumn of 1969, women were admitted to Yale University, leading some to view the sculpture as a symbol of female empowerment and coeducation.)[5]

The original iteration had a soft, inflated lipstick section, and wooden treads.[6][7] The sculpture deteriorated and was removed by Oldenburg in March 1970.[4] It was redone in weathering steel and fiberglass, and reinstalled at Morse College, on October 17, 1974.[8] As of 2019, Wrede was leading an effort to move the piece back to its original location in Beinecke Plaza.[9]

Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks has been shown at the Guggenheim Museum[10][11] and National Gallery of Art.[12]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ 'Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks' by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen – Virtual Globetrotting
  2. ^ "Public art at Yale – Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks" Archived 2012-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks (Sculpture)". Save Outdoor Sculpture, Connecticut survey. 1993. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Yale Alumni Magazine: "Claes Oldenburg’s Lipstick", (Feb 2000) Archived 2012-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Yale Alumni Magazine: Claes Oldenburg's Lipstick (Feb 2000)".
  6. ^ Frieze Magazine, "Tom Burr" Archived 2010-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ The Yale Herald, "Sculptures at Yale: Not just for peeing on"
  8. ^ "Claes Oldenburg: Exhibitions & Projects: Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks"
  9. ^ Sheets, Hilarie M. (21 June 2019). "For Claes Oldenburg, a Time to Let Go, a Time to Look Ahead". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Oldenburg: "An Anthology, Large-Scale Projects"
  11. ^ "Claes Oldenburg, An Anthology – Events & Publications"
  12. ^ NGA, "Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology", (02/1995) Archived 2011-10-19 at the Wayback Machine

External links edit

  • http://restoringpublicpossessions.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/lipstick-ascending-on-caterpillar-tracks-1969-1974/
  • http://dumboartscenter.blogspot.com/2011/06/secret-garden-party-ii-sneak-peak-1.html