A loosely rendered crouching nude woman hugging her knees in warm watercolor and charcoal tones.

Drawings

Sex Act

1961

Medium: Wax crayon and watercolor on paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 8 3/8 × 10 13/16 in. (21.3 × 27.5 cm)
Accession number: 2002.5
Acquired: 2002
Credit line: Gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President
Reproduction credit: © Claes Oldenburg
Department: collection

About this work

Claes Oldenburg, Sex Act, 1961. Wax crayon and watercolor on paper, sheet: 8 3/8 × 10 13/16 in. (21.3 × 27.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President 2002.5. © Claes Oldenburg

Exhibitions featuring the artist

Exhibitions in the Whitney's archive featuring any of the artists listed for this work. Artwork-level exhibition history is not published by the museum; the list below is artist-level.

Sixties Surreal 2025-09-24 – 2026-01-19
Claes Oldenburg: Drawn from Life 2025-07-05 – 2026-04-27
Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950–2019 2019-11-22 – 2022-02-20
The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 2019-06-28 – 2025-05-01
America Is Hard to See 2015-05-01 – 2015-09-27
Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts 2014-07-17 – 2014-10-19
T. J. Wilcox: In the Air 2013-09-19 – 2014-02-09
Sinister Pop 2012-11-15 – 2013-03-31
Off the Wall: Part 1—Thirty Performative Actions 2010-07-01 – 2010-09-19
Collecting Biennials 2010-01-16 – 2010-11-28
Claes Oldenburg: Early Sculpture, Drawings, and Happenings Films<br><br>Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen: The Music Room 2009-05-07 – 2009-09-06
The Whitney’s Collection 2008-01-30 – 2010-01-03
Picasso and American Art 2006-09-28 – 2007-01-28
Full House: Views of the Whitney’s Collection at 75 2006-06-29 – 2006-09-03
Pop/Concept: Highlights from the Permanent Collection 2004-07-01 – 2004-10-24
An American Legacy, A Gift to New York 2002-10-24 – 2003-01-26
Claes Oldenburg: Drawings, 1959–1977 2002-06-06 – 2002-09-15
Highlights from the Permanent Collection: From Pollock to Today 2000-12-07 – 2002-02-10
An American Story 1996-03-20 – 1996-09-29
1970 Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Sculpture 1970-12-12 – 1971-02-07
1968 Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Sculpture 1968-12-17 – 1969-02-09
Annual Exhibition 1966: Contemporary Sculpture and Prints 1966-12-16 – 1967-02-05
1964 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture 1964-12-09 – 1965-01-31

Sex Act

About this work

Exhibitions featuring the artist

Other works by this artist