Director, Glenn Lowry: In 1962, this work was displayed in the front window of an exhibition called New Realisms in a pop-up location of the Sidney Janis Gallery.
Artist, Claes Oldenburg: The Lingerie Counter was made for an exhibition that was put up by Sidney Janis. The original black Formica base was made by Dick Artschwager. I made all of the clothing that hangs on it and the stockings and the underwear and so on. And that stood in the window of the store Sidney Janis had rented on 57th Street. So he had rented a store too. And it was a little bigger, and there were a few more people in it, but it was a store.
Claes Oldenburg: 
Curator, Ann Temkin.
Curator, Ann Temkin: The Lingerie Counter was exactly what it sounds like. You have your slips, your bras, your underwear all featured in these hanging display positions. And with elaborately painted surfaces that made these lingerie look a little scary. The Lingerie Counter takes as its subject something that would not ever before have been the subject of a painting or a sculpture. And in a fancy 57th Street gallery, was a very provocative decision on Oldenburg’s part.