• May 24, 1976
• Vol. 5
• No. 20

Oldenburg Tops Off Philadelphia's Bicentennial with a '76 Clothespin

A 45-foot-high weathering steel clothespin that weighs 10 tons would be just the thing for Paul Bunyan's laundry. New York sculptor and pop artist Claes Oldenburg has better plans for it. On June 1 the creator of such monumental works as the 24-foot-high lipstick that stands on the Yale campus and a two-ton baseball mitt will unveil the gargantuan Clothespin in Philadelphia. There, along with a 5,000-pound Dubuffet sculpture and a series of huge, fluttering Alexander Calder banners, it will adorn the city's Centre Square.

Commissioned to do the Clothespin by Jack Wolgin, a Philadelphia financier and art collector, Oldenburg says it has become his Bicentennial tribute. Explains the artist: "Its steel spring forms the figure 76. And it is identical to the Liberty Bell in several ways. Not only does it have a crack in the middle but it resonates like a bell. If you bang it, it makes a lovely sound."