Claes OldenburgAmerican, 1929–2022Sneaker Lace Sculpture
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Sneaker Lace Sculpture” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked October 12, 2026.
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Claes Oldenburg’s Sneaker Lace Sculpture reprises a theme that first appeared in his work in the late 1960s. Depicting the rubber toe and tongue of a “gym shoe” with its shoelaces extended vertically to suggest the form of a palm tree swaying in the wind, the multiple is a whimsical staging of an everyday object that belies viewer’s expectations. Published by Gemini GEL, Los Angeles, it is one of the many editioned prints and multiples that Oldenburg produced in association with this venerable collaborative workshop. As a complement to the sculpture, Oldenburg also produced a series of seven color and monochromatic lithographs of studies for a colossal “Sneaker Lace” sculpture set in the landscape. Like many of his recurring themes, the subject reflects Oldenburg’s interest in seeing his favorite objects in unconventional settings.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 2013.73.2
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Claes Oldenburg
In the life of Claes Oldenburg
The whole life1972–1993
His brother Richard heads MoMA
From 1972 to 1993 the artist's brother, the art historian Richard E. Oldenburg, was director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and later chairman of Sotheby's America.
1989 · Award
Wolf Prize in Arts
1992
The Château de la Borde in the Loire Valley
In 1992 Oldenburg and van Bruggen bought the Château de la Borde, a small Loire Valley chateau whose music room gave them the idea of a domestically sized collection; they furnished the house with modernist pieces by Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, Alvar Aalto, Gehry and Eileen Gray.
