Burroughs Adder, 1965

Blatt: 355 x 427 mm

Physical Description: Black chalk and watercolour on wove paper

Inventory Number: 17907

Object Number: 17907 Z

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

In 1962, Oldenburg began defamiliarizing everyday objects by negating the solidity of their material: he made typewriters, drum sets, and pieces of cake ultra large and as soft as cushions. In 1964/65 he conceived of something similar for a Burroughs adding machine. Using chalk and watercolours, he portrayed the device close up, thus lending it a monumental quality, and in loose, rather soft forms that wryly disclaim the object’s hardness.

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Burroughs Adder (Original Title)

Draughtsman

Claes Oldenburg

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

drawing

Physical Description: Black chalk and watercolour on wove paper

Material

Technique

Geographic Reference

North American

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Monogrammiert und datiert unten links (mit schwarzer Kreide?): C O 65; betitelt unten rechts: Burroughs / Adder

Watermark: Nicht vorhanden

Property and Acquisition

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: Sidney Janis Gallery, New York

Leon Kraushar (1913‒1967), Long Island

Nachlass Kraushar, 1967

Verkauf über Franz Dahlem an Karl Ströher (1890‒1977), Darmstadt, 1968

Nachlass Karl Ströher, 1977

an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known: