Colossal Fag End, Dream State
Claes Oldenburg
American, born Sweden. 1929–2022
1967
A pencil-on-paper drawing in which Oldenburg magnifies a discarded cigarette butt into a looming, dreamlike monument surrounded by small, loosely sketched human figures.
What first strikes you is the contrast of scale and mark-making—the dark, heavily shaded cylindrical mass dominates while quick, restless pencil strokes render a reclining nude, a tiny woman in a hat, and playful figures, producing an uncanny, dreamlike tension.
Working in the language of Pop art, Oldenburg here elevates everyday detritus into a monumental, humorous and slightly unsettling subject, a concern that paved the way for his large-scale and soft sculptures that reimagined ordinary objects as public spectacles.
Medium
Pencil on paper
Dimensions
30 x 22" (76.1 x 56.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Lily Auchincloss, Charles B. Benenson, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, and purchase
Accession
48.1988
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
