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Lot Essay
Wayne Thiebaud’s Candy Pieces is a glistening example of one of the artist’s most beloved motifs–mouth-watering confections. In the present work, a variety of multi-colored hard candies are gingerly arranged on a pale gray countertop, intentionally positioned in an inviting display of alternating warm and cool hues and rounded forms. The candies’ distinct, vibrant colors and sumptuous impasto pulsate with delicious materiality, inviting the viewer in to take a closer look. Simplified, yet elegant, in presentation, Candy Pieces is a testament to Thiebaud’s careerlong interest in the sweet subject matter and its ability to convey a multiplicity of meanings to different viewers.
Like many of his contemporaries, Thiebaud utilized imagery from mass culture to invoke a particular cultural ethos—one of growing consumption and commodification. While other artists were devoted to mimicking the appearance of mass-produced products by concealing any traces of the artist’s gesture on the canvas, Thiebaud created lush surfaces with dense brushstrokes that lend his works a strong material presence. Art critic Karen Wilkin wrote: “We are almost immediately seduced by the frank voluptuousness of the paint in these otherwise (deceptively) unassuming pictures... Thiebaud makes thick sensually manipulated oil paint into a perfect equivalent for the icing, pie filling, and ice cream referred to in his early works; more than one commentator has confessed to wanting to lick his surfaces,” (K. Wilkin, “An American Master,” Wayne Thiebaud, New York, 2015, p. 12). Indeed, with Candy Pieces, Thiebaud has masterfully captured the glossy, tempting texture of the sweet treats, perfectly arranged into a petite pile of highly saturated rainbow tones. In typical Thiebaud fashion, these candies are removed from their surroundings, placed in a semi-abstract, liminal space of muted gray and brown tones. By removing the candy pieces from their customary environments, Thiebaud allows for deeper meditation on the materiality of the subject.
"I’m interested in foods generally which have been fooled with ritualistically, displays centered and arranged in certain ways to tempt us or to seduce us or to religiously transcend us." - Wayne Thiebaud
Thiebaud’s method of isolating and carefully arranging his subjects is aptly compared to the still-life paintings of Old Masters. The present work conveys an unmitigated devotion to his subject in its nuanced treatment of the candies—each presented in a unique color and form that complements its surrounding pieces to create a gestalt of visual and imaginative flavor. This elevated presentation of everyday consumer goods inspires a reverence for the magically mundane aspects of modern American life. In 1962 Thiebaud asserted, “It seems to me that we are self-conscious about our still lifes without good reason. It is easier to celebrate the copper pots and clay pipes of Chardin or to pretend that our revolutions are the same as the ones expressed in the apples of Cézanne. We are hesitant to make our own life special... set our still lifes aside... applaud or criticize what is especially us... But some years from now our foodstuffs, our pots, our dress, and our ideas will be quite different,” (W. Thiebaud quoted in his artist statement for the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1962). Thiebaud recognized the beauty in quotidian life, and his works invites viewers to reexamine their surroundings and the everyday objects that come to take on greater meaning – of joy, nostalgia and celebration.
Candy Pieces takes its place among a cherished body of work which celebrates the emblems of post-war American culture and the beauty in the everyday—that of candy-makers who play with color and line to create their own wares—and elevates it with a painterly sophistication that rivals great Abstract Expressionists and figurative painters alike. Through such works, Thiebaud celebrates popular pleasures, but also the pleasure of painting—never swaying from his passion for his medium and dedication to his beloved confectionaries: "People say painting's dead. Fine. It's dead for you. I don't care. Painting is alive for me. Painting is life for me,” (W. Thiebaud, Wayne Thiebaud: A Paintings Retrospective, exh. cat., Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2000, p. 41).
Like many of his contemporaries, Thiebaud utilized imagery from mass culture to invoke a particular cultural ethos—one of growing consumption and commodification. While other artists were devoted to mimicking the appearance of mass-produced products by concealing any traces of the artist’s gesture on the canvas, Thiebaud created lush surfaces with dense brushstrokes that lend his works a strong material presence. Art critic Karen Wilkin wrote: “We are almost immediately seduced by the frank voluptuousness of the paint in these otherwise (deceptively) unassuming pictures... Thiebaud makes thick sensually manipulated oil paint into a perfect equivalent for the icing, pie filling, and ice cream referred to in his early works; more than one commentator has confessed to wanting to lick his surfaces,” (K. Wilkin, “An American Master,” Wayne Thiebaud, New York, 2015, p. 12). Indeed, with Candy Pieces, Thiebaud has masterfully captured the glossy, tempting texture of the sweet treats, perfectly arranged into a petite pile of highly saturated rainbow tones. In typical Thiebaud fashion, these candies are removed from their surroundings, placed in a semi-abstract, liminal space of muted gray and brown tones. By removing the candy pieces from their customary environments, Thiebaud allows for deeper meditation on the materiality of the subject.
"I’m interested in foods generally which have been fooled with ritualistically, displays centered and arranged in certain ways to tempt us or to seduce us or to religiously transcend us." - Wayne Thiebaud
Thiebaud’s method of isolating and carefully arranging his subjects is aptly compared to the still-life paintings of Old Masters. The present work conveys an unmitigated devotion to his subject in its nuanced treatment of the candies—each presented in a unique color and form that complements its surrounding pieces to create a gestalt of visual and imaginative flavor. This elevated presentation of everyday consumer goods inspires a reverence for the magically mundane aspects of modern American life. In 1962 Thiebaud asserted, “It seems to me that we are self-conscious about our still lifes without good reason. It is easier to celebrate the copper pots and clay pipes of Chardin or to pretend that our revolutions are the same as the ones expressed in the apples of Cézanne. We are hesitant to make our own life special... set our still lifes aside... applaud or criticize what is especially us... But some years from now our foodstuffs, our pots, our dress, and our ideas will be quite different,” (W. Thiebaud quoted in his artist statement for the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1962). Thiebaud recognized the beauty in quotidian life, and his works invites viewers to reexamine their surroundings and the everyday objects that come to take on greater meaning – of joy, nostalgia and celebration.
Candy Pieces takes its place among a cherished body of work which celebrates the emblems of post-war American culture and the beauty in the everyday—that of candy-makers who play with color and line to create their own wares—and elevates it with a painterly sophistication that rivals great Abstract Expressionists and figurative painters alike. Through such works, Thiebaud celebrates popular pleasures, but also the pleasure of painting—never swaying from his passion for his medium and dedication to his beloved confectionaries: "People say painting's dead. Fine. It's dead for you. I don't care. Painting is alive for me. Painting is life for me,” (W. Thiebaud, Wayne Thiebaud: A Paintings Retrospective, exh. cat., Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2000, p. 41).