With Season 6 of Mad Men returning this Sunday night and venturing even deeper into the 1960s, we figured it was high time for an art update at the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce offices. After the jump, the famous artworks with which we would redecorate the walls of each of our favorite SCDP employees’ offices. In the name of sheer fun, note that no regard whatsoever has been paid to the price, availability, or timeliness of these artworks.
Roger Sterling
Joan Miró, Blue i, Blue ii, and Blue iii (pictured above), 1961
Roger’s office is getting a little too monochromatic for our liking, so we figure it could do with a good dose of color. Besides, as we near the ’70s, mod is losing its cool, and Roger’s office should change with the times. Miró’s all-encompassing Blue series will probably take up all of his wall space, but it’s worth it if it can reinvigorate this lazy environment. Who knows? The brightness might even inspire him to be a more productive partner.
Don Draper
Andy Warhol, Soup Cans, 1962
Warhol’s series of soup can paintings is perhaps the ultimate artwork for the ad man. Since Don is also a man of many faces, Warhol’s art is suited to him as a kind of elevated deception. Like a tin of Campbell’s, Don looks all-American on the surface, but dark secrets are hidden inside – and to enter his past would be much like opening a proverbial can, with all its worms spilling out.
Joan Harris
Gustav Klimt, Judith and the Holofernes, 1901
Joan’s so glamorous that we figure Gustav Klimt’s art – and the sumptuous gold with which he paints – suits her to a tee. This particular painting depicts another powerful and beautiful woman, and like Joan, a Klimt painting has a classic elegance that never goes out of style.
Bertram Cooper
Damien Hirst, Shark, 1991
Bert Cooper has a sly side, and we think (though his tastes have run to Asian art in the past) he would love to intimidate SCDP employees when he calls them into his office for a telling-off and impress new clients with Damien Hirst’s provocative Shark piece. No doubt it’ll make Pete dead jealous, too – an added bonus.
Pete Campbell
Guerrilla Girls, The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist, 1988
Though he would probably hate it, we reckon Pete could do with a daily reminder of a woman’s worth. This brilliant Guerrilla Girls piece might just be the antidote to his misogyny.
Peggy Olson
Lee Krasner, Right Bird Left, 1965
OK, so Peggy quit SCDP. But she has to come back – she just has to! And if the folks at SCDP could hook her up with this gorgeous Lee Krasner, we reckon she’d be back in no time. Like Krasner, Peggy’s often overlooked and under-appreciated, overshadowed by her male contemporaries. Krasner was married to fellow artist Jackson Pollock, who, of course, got all the attention. Like Peggy’s copywriting work, Krasner’s art deserves a fair look and has its own quieter, more nuanced beauty to express.