Claes OldenburgAmerican, 1929–2022Standing Mitt with Ball
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Standing Mitt with Ball” now? The Cleveland Museum of Art, ATRM Atrium, Cleveland. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
Oldenburg is known for creating artworks that reinterpret the quotidian objects that make up our everyday lives in a variety of sizes and materials, whether they are truly banal, bizarre, or curiously appealing. This colossal work conflates rigid steel, soft lead, and curved wooden planks to present a monumental distillation of America’s favorite pastime.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 2017.125
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — © Claes Thure Oldenburg
In the life of Claes Oldenburg
The whole life1969–1977
His relationship with Hannah Wilke
From 1969 to 1977 Oldenburg was in a relationship with the feminist artist and sculptor Hannah Wilke: they shared studios and travelled together, and she often photographed him. His marriage to Patty Mucha ended in 1970.
early 1970s
Turning to public commissions: “Three-Way Plug”
From the early 1970s Oldenburg concentrated almost exclusively on public commissions; his first public work, “Three-Way Plug”, was commissioned by Oberlin College with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
30 June 1972 – 8 October 1972
Exhibition: Documenta 5
1972–1993
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.
