Wayne Thiebaud

Joseph Adamec, New York
By descent to the present owner

This work is in very good condition overall. The canvas is unlined. There is some pale time-staining. There are a few scattered, barely-visible, small hairline cracks in the pigment. This work has recently undergone a surface cleaning by a conservator. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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In 1962, Wayne Thiebaud had his first one-man show at the Allan Stone Gallery. The Sacramento based painter burst onto the New York art scene with his sumptuous paintings of delectable sweets, cakes, pies as well as all American delicacies including hamburgers, bacon and eggs, roast beef, hot dogs, barbeque chicken, and as in this painting, deviled eggs. Each still life was presented as a celebration of the delectable assortment of foods meant to consumed by the new American Middle-Class. The thick swath of pigment made each decadent morsel viscerally indulgent.

Deviled Eggs, 1962,  dating  from the same year as the breakthrough Allan Stone show,  depicts two diagonal rows of open faces eggs. Layers of mayonnaise and mustard along with sprinkles of paprika punctuate the surface of the canvas. The viewer can almost smell of pungency of each of the elements mixed in the palm size hors d'oeuvres that seem to almost leap off the canvas and ready for eating. The eggs are framed off center on the canvas; the last is nearly severed in half, partially removed from the picture plane. This technique appeared in his celebrated Pies composition from 1961 and was repeated in Candies from 1965-1966. Thus, at the edges of the canvas, an abstract composition takes form. The gesture of the painter’s hand along with the thick application of paint coincides with Abstract Expressionist painting techniques embraced by the New York School.

Thiebaud likely painted the subject from his memory rather than from an actual still life set up. The layout of the composition was likely the result of the artist’s professional training as an illustrator and cartoonist. The artist explained his working method as follows: “Working from memory, I tried to arrange [the object] in a way that an art director arranges things…I tried to be more careful, tried to be more refined and interesting in terms of relationships (Exh. Cat., San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Wayne Thiebaud, 1985, p. 35) .”