To understand the artistic mind of Tom Wesselmann, one must understand the education that became his inspiration. Wesselmann moved to New York City in the fall of 1956 (Tom, 2018). He moved to the city to study art at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Wesselmann at first had a focus on cartoon art as he made comics during his time in the military. But he was redirected to Abstract Expressionism when studying at The Cooper Union (Walleston, 2017). This art skill appears clearly in his piece. He worked under the instruction of Nicholas Marsicano. Marsicano’s work was modernist figure painting (askART, n.d). More specifically, Marsicano’s focus was on the female figure. A piece of his, Untitled, is featured in this section which offers an art piece of two nude women sitting beside each other. When looking at this piece, you can see the similarity between Marsicano’s and Wesselmann’s work. It is evident that education Wesselmann received inspired him. Furthermore on  Wesselmann’s inspiration, he met his wife, Claire Selley, at this time as well. It was said that his wife was his lifelong muse. However, Selley was not only his muse, but his model. Being a painter herself, she said she understood what was required for the role as a model. She also stated that the care she had for Tom added another dimension to the work created.

Sources:

askART. (n.d.). Artist Biography and Facts: Nicholas Marsicano. askART. https://www.askart.com/artist/Nicholas_Marsicano/101996/Nicholas_Marsica...

Tom Wesselmann. Gagosian. (2018, April 12). https://gagosian.com/artists/tom-wesselmann/

Walleston, A. (2017, December 18). Wife and muse: Claire Wesselmann on Tom Wesselmann. ARTnews.com. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/interviews/claire-wesselman-56102/