Contradiction animates Oldenburg’s sculptures of everyday objects. In works such as Soft Calendar for the Month of August, what is hard is made soft, what is small is made large, and what is flat is made three-dimensional. Stuffed fabric sculptures like this one originated in 1962 as props in Oldenburg’s art events, or Happenings, and evolved into independent works. The giant numbers of Soft Calendar are sensuously rounded and pillow-like. Their overlapping arrangement asserts their volumetric nature. Each Sunday is called out in brilliant red, while the remaining days of the week are coated in white enamel. Photographic documentation suggests that Soft Calendar was assembled and painted by Oldenburg and his partner, Patty Mucha, at Green Gallery in 1962.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "An American Choice: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection," May 21–September 27, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 51).
Sydney. Art Gallery of New South Wales. "Pop Art, 1955–70," February 27–April 14, 1985, unnumbered cat. (p. 74).
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "Pop Art, 1955–70," May 1–June 2, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria. "Pop Art, 1955–70," June 26–August 11, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Berlin. Martin-Gropius-Bau. "Amerikanische Kunst im 20. Jahrhundert: Malerei und Plastik; 1913–1993," May 8–July 25, 1993, no. 170.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "American Art in the 20th Century: Painting and Sculpture 1913–1993," September 16–December 12, 1993, no. 170.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 17, 2007–February 3, 2008, extended to March 2, 2008, no. 62.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Claes Oldenburg: The Street and The Store," April 14–August 5, 2013 (checklist no. 122).
Jewish Museum, New York. "New York: 1962–1964," July 22, 2022–January 8, 2023.
Sidney Tillim. "New York Exhibitions: Month in Review." Arts Magazine 37 (November 1962), ill. p. 37 (installation photo of Exh. New York 1962).
Lucy R. Lippard, ed. Pop Art. New York, 1966, fig. 85 (installation photo of Exh. New York 1962).
Hilton Kramer. "Modernist Show Moves Met Firmly into Art of 20th Century." New York Times (May 22, 1981), p. C21.
William Agee. "Muriel Kallis Newman–Life Among the Moderns." Architectural Digest 43 (December 1986), p. 70.
Coosje van Bruggen. Claes Oldenburg: Nür ein anderer Raum. Exh. cat., Museum für Moderne Kunst. Frankfurt, 1991, fig. 87 (installation photo of Exh. New York 1962).
Germano Celant, Dieter Koepplin, Marla Prather, and Mark Rosenthal, ed. Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology. Exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York, 1995, figs. 75 (installation photo of Exh. New York 1962), 87.
Marla Prather inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 200–203, no. 62, ill. (color).
Roberta Smith. "A Collector's Keen Eye for Modernists." New York Times (September 21, 2007), p. E36.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 2012, p. 425, ill. (color).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 2019, p. 425, ill. (color).
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. As part of The Met’s Open Access program, the data is available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Claes Oldenburg (American (born Sweden), Stockholm 1929–2022 New York)
1967
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.