Picasso Cufflink

1969–1977

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 giugno 1972 – 8 ottobre 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.

1976

The partnership with Coosje van Bruggen begins

From 1976 Oldenburg worked with the Dutch-American writer and art historian Coosje van Bruggen — 30 years and over 40 “large-scale projects”. Their first collaboration was reworking “Trowel I” (1971) for the grounds of the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo.