American pop artist who specialised in found art collages. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Tom Wesselmann was drafted into the Army for the Korean War.  Afterward, he studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and later at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science, Art and architecture in New York City. While still at the Cooper Union Tom Wesselmann learned to paint, his initial purpose of going into art was to become a cartoonist.

His early work was heavily influenced by the abstract expressionist painters, especially Willem de Kooning. His art became more popular in the 1960s and had his first one-man exhibition in 1962 at the Tanager Gallery, New York.  After that, his art made it to several other exhibitions such as the Young America exhibition in 1965, Whitney Museum, New York.

Beginning in the 1950s, he made collages from magazine clippings and found objects, often incorporating female nudes. Tom Wesselmann was best known for his “Great American Nudes” series. He died of complications following heart surgery, aged 73.