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Enjoy Life the Italian Way

Indulge in pizza and Chianti! Take a passeggiata, or stroll, with the family while eating your favorite gelato!

Today is Italian Lifestyle Day, a time to enjoy benessere, the Italian word for well being.

Claes Oldenburg, a Swedish-born artist, captured the lighthearted tone of benessere in this print Flying Pizza. Perhaps better known for his playful sculptures, Oldenburg is also an accomplished printmaker. In various media, he presents mundane objects in new scales and contexts. The Pop Art icon once said, "I make my work out of my everyday experiences, which I find as perplexing and extraordinary as can be."

Pictured: Claes Oldenburg, born Sweden 1929, Flying Pizza, from the portfolio "New York Ten", 1964, color lithograph, 17 x 22 1/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.