African Art
Art
Art Catalog
Art Criticism and Theory
Art History
Ceramics
Folk and Outsider Art
Museum Studies
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Cleveland’s Free Stamp
By Edward J. Olszewski
In 1985, the Sohio oil company commissioned Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen to design and construct a large outdoor sculpture for its new corporate headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. The result was Free Stamp, a bold and distinctive installation that captured both a Pop Art sensibility and a connection to the city’s industrial past. Sohio executives approved the design, and work was already underway, when British Petroleum acquired the company.
