Wayne Thiebaud

Acquired directly from the artist

This work is in very good condition overall. There is a small white accretion near the right edge of the blue shadow, visible in the catalogue illustration. There is no evidence of inpainting under ultraviolet light inspection. Framed.
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Cherries #1 is a beautiful example of Wayne Thiebaud's iconic still lifes. By the early 1960s his style is widely considered to have matured and his still lifes take center stage during this time. Painted from memory, they evoke a sense of nostalgia for an American life. The otherwise mundane subjects, whether they would be cakes, pies, or ties are elevated to poetic scenes that celebrate and long for another time. These still lifes also became the setting for the artist's exploration of formal issues of space, form and color. 

Thiebaud's mature still lifes were first featured in a 1961 one-man exhibition at the Artists Cooperative Gallery in Sacramento and later in April 1962 in his first one man show in New York at the Allan Stone Gallery. The show was an extraordinary success and Thiebaud's work was soon associated with the newly emerging Pop Art movement. Unlike the mechanical flat compositions of other Pop artists, Thiebaud's brushstroke is central to his oeuvre and he embraces the singular qualities of his subjects. There is a theatrical quality to Cherries #1. The shadows and highlights are accentuated in an effort to grasp the energy of a specific moment time. Unlike the early still lifes from the 60s, the present work reveals Thiebaud's interest in exploring the range of black as a source of light and shadow. The multi-colored brushstrokes render a dynamic energy that is barely contained by the simple clear bowl. The stark white background draws the viewer's attention to the bowl of cherries and the memories encapsulated in that moment. Inspired by the color experiments of the Fauves, Thiebaud's exploration of light through color relationships is clear in this painting. Cherries #1 is bursting with reds, yellows, greens and blues. A light blue shadow cast from the bowl envelops the foreground.  The exploration of light and shadow and the energy and emotion in each brushstroke certainly distances Thiebaud from his Pop contemporaries and places him in the context of modern masters.