In 1957 Jim Dine moved to New York, where he presented his first artistic creations: a series of happenings and chaotic performances, which he described as “painter’s theatre,” with the participation of artists Claes Oldenburg and Allan Kaprow and the musician John Cage. In the early 1960s, Dine created his first assemblages using everyday materials, tools and techniques with powerful autobiographical connotations, as they reminded him of his youth, working at his grandfather’s hardware store in Cincinnati, which had stirred his interest for tools and colorful paint catalogues. The artist would later comment that the objects used in his works can be considered both as self-portraits and actors, with the canvases becoming the stage on which they perform.