Tom Wesselmann is considered, alongside artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, one of the defining figures of the Pop Art movement. In this large-scale screenprint, Still Life with Matisse and Johns, Wesselmann presents a bold, graphic composition that brings together elements of still life, the reclining nude, and art-historical reference within his distinctive Pop vocabulary. Using bold areas of red, yellow, blue, and green set against a white ground, Wesselmann creates a graphic structure that asserts his rejection of Abstract Expressionism in favour of clarity, immediacy, and visual impact.

The title, Still Life with Matisse and Johns, directs attention to the work’s dialogue with Henri Matisse and Jasper Johns. References to Matisse appear through the decorative floral patterns and flowing shapes, as well as in the pose of the figure, whose raised arms echo a 1923 nude by Matisse, while Johns’ influence is suggested through the use of bold, repeated colour fields and emblematic forms. These references are not literal quotations but visual cues embedded within the composition.

Produced as a screenprint in an edition of 90, the work highlights Wesselmann’s mastery of printmaking and his sustained interest in the still life as a site for formal experimentation, where art history, popular imagery, and contemporary culture intersect.