Shiny Nude from the Rubber Stamp Portfolio 1977

This lithograph called 'Shiny Nude from the Rubber Stamp Portfolio' was made by Tom Wesselmann, but we don't know when, so we should probably do some research, eh? It's so cool how he uses these dense hatching marks to define the forms. They give the colors a vibration, like the eye is always doing the mixing. It's like the painting is never still. You know? You get the sense that the artist loved playing around with color and texture. I like the way Wesselmann leaves the marks of his process visible. There's no hiding here; it's all about the physicality of making. Take a look at the blue area around the figure. The hatching is dense and directional, creating a kind of visual buzz. It's not just a color, it's an energy. You can see that he's in dialogue with artists like Matisse, taking the figure as a starting point but pushing it into something new and totally his own.