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Spoonbridge and Cherry

notebook sketches by Claes Oldenburg

How did the artists get their ideas for Spoonbridge and Cherry?

Oldenburg seems to like spoons. He got the idea in 1962 after he bought a novelty spoon resting on a glob of fake chocolate.Then the image of a spoon began to appear in many of his drawings. He keeps a small notebook in his pants pockets for drawing. Click here to view a video or read the text of Oldenburg talk about how he gets his ideas (video requires Quicktime).

The idea for the cherry and the shape of the pond the sculpture sits in came from Coosje van Bruggen. She thought the cherry would be a playful addition to the very formal garden.