Claes Oldenburg

As an essential figure in any study of pop art, Swedish-born Claes Oldenburg (b. 1929) specialized in reproductions of consumer objects such as hamburgers and toilets, often created with bizarre dimensions and/or composed of highly unusual, disorienting materials. The sculptor's reputation soon spread far above and beyond art circles, largely courtesy of his fondness for environmental art and his ability to create lasting monuments; both tendencies made him a fixture on the American landscape. As hosted by Melvyn Bragg, this 1996 broadcast of London Weekend Television's South Bank Show visits Oldenburg in 1995, during the construction of one such monument and the preparation of a career-long retrospective at the Guggenheim. Experts including fellow pop art pioneer Roy Lichtenstein turn up on camera for incisive commentary.