Happy 93rd birthday to the ever-inventive, Swedish-American sculptor Claes Oldenburg! Here he is, snapped by Hans Hammarskiöld in 1960s London, carrying one of his artworks, Giant Toothpaste Tube (1964). The work was to feature in a touring 1969 exhibition of Oldenburg’s work, organised by the Museum of Modern Art, and perhaps required some last minute adjustments. That, or Oldenburg didn’t trust anyone else to transport it. It is one of many of quotidian objects that Oldenburg has super-sized and elevated to artwork status over the years—in a gallery setting, the tube is positioned horizontally to resemble a classical reclining nude.
