Cakes

1963

Wayne Thiebaud

Painter, American, 1920 - 2021

Thirteen round cakes sit in three rows, each on a disk-like stand supported on a thin rod, in this horizontal painting. We look slightly down onto the cakes, which only barely overlap. All of the cakes are round except for one, which has been cut in half so we see the four layers of yellow cake and chocolate frosting inside. The top of that cake is white. All of the other cakes are unique except for two angel food cakes at the center, which are slightly different heights. Most of the other cakes have white or brown frosting, except for a pink cake at the front right. That cake has white swags piped on the sides and a pink rose on the top. Next to it is a cake topped with yellow, perhaps lemon curd. The other two cakes in the front row have a white swirl against dark brown frosting, and the fourth, near the left egde, is topped with a single red cherry. Half of a low, pale orange cake is cut off by the left edge of the canvas in the middle row. Each cake stand casts a pale gray shadow against the light, arctic-blue counter. The paint is thickly applied throughout, and the outlines around the cakes, plates, and rods are streaked with rainbow colors. The artist signed the work by incising his name and the date into the wet white paint in the top right corner: “Thiebaud 1963.”

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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

Video:  Oddly Satisfying: Cakes Inspired by Wayne Thiebaud

Indulge your senses as an amazing baker delves into the delectable world of Wayne Thiebaud's iconic Cakes still-life painting.

Article:  An Expert Baker’s Take on “Cakes” by Wayne Thiebaud

The painting inspires baker and author Cheryl Day to recall the dessert’s place in her life—and in her family’s history.


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Allan Stone Gallery, New York); sold 1963 to Harry N. Abrams, New York; gift 1991 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1991

  • Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1991, 420-421, color repro.

2000

  • Wayne Thiebaud: A Paintings Retrospective, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2000-2001, no. 26, repro.

Bibliography

1991

  • Gingold, Diane J., and Elizabeth A.C. Weil. The Corporate Patron. New York, 1991: 109, color repro.

2011

  • Kimmelman, Michael. "What's the Best Work of Art About Food?" New York Times Magazine (October 2, 2011): 51, color repro.

Inscriptions

upper right: Thiebaud 1963

Wikidata ID

Q20195908


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