Still Life #13 1962

Tom Wesselmann made this mixed media still life sometime in the latter half of the 20th century. It's a Pop Art collection of brand names – Campbell's, Del Monte, Phillip Morris – rendered in the flat planes of high modernism. The artist offers a commentary on the post-war American consumer boom. The imagery reflects the rise of mass media and advertising in American culture, a world of increasingly uniform lifestyles and aspirations. The Statue of Liberty hints at the mythology of the "American Dream," a promise that seemed within reach for many. Is the artist celebrating this era, or critiquing its vacuous materialism? Either way, the work raises questions about the public role of art. What is the artist's responsibility to comment on the culture they live in? By understanding the social and institutional context of the late 20th century in America, the artwork can be seen as a cultural artifact.