Image courtesy of Phillips de Pury & Company
Soft Alphabet
Soft Alphabet is another example of Claes Oldenburg’s fascination with letters and language. This work consists of forty-one pieces sewn in cotton cloth and filled with sand. The plump, cartoon-like letters fit together snugly and match the silk-screened stencil outlined on the cover of the wooden box. The work invokes pleasant connotations of both childhood alphabet games and a box of chocolates or sweets.
ArtistClaes Oldenburg(1929-2022)
Swedish American, 1929 - 2022
Date1978
Medium41 sewn cotton, sand-filled bags in a wooden box
Dimensions29 1/4 x 22 1/4 x 2 3/4 in. (74.3 x 56.5 x 7 cm)
Signedverso, on underside of the box: Oldenburg 8/16
Mark(s)verso, on underside of the box, printed: The Soft Alphabet by Claes Oldenburg is an edition of sixteen with two proofs, each consisting of forty-one pieces including nineteen characters in a wooden box. The pieces are sewn in cotton cloth, filled with sand and brushed with talc. A drawing of the Soft Alphabet is silk-screened on the cover of the box.
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2012.494
ClassificationMixed Media
Provenance(Philips de Pury & Company, New York, NY), November 1, 2012, sale NY030212, lot 52; purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2012
On ViewNo
This artwork's face covers about 89× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.