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Lot Essay
"It started out just as a sort of crazy problem to set for myself to orchestrate abstract elements with the subject matter. As soon as I did that, as I say, I couldn't help but look at it and laugh, 'That certainly has to be the end of me as a serious painter--a slice of pie.' But I couldn't leave it alone...It just seemed to be the most genuine thing which I had done." - Wayne Thiebaud
Executed in 1962, Untitled (Pie Slice) is representative of a pivotal moment in Wayne Thiebaud’s career. Just the year before he and friend Mel Ramos had made the trip to New York in search of gallery representation. It was on that trip that Wayne Thiebaud met Allan Stone. “Late one afternoon in the spring of ’61 out of the bustle of Madison Avenue a shy reserved man came to the gallery. He was exhausted after spending a depressing day showing galleries his paintings….. unsuccessfully. We were his last stop.” (Allan Stone in Wayne Thiebaud at Allan Stone Gallery: Celebrating 33 Years Together, exh. cat., New York, 1994). It was this fortuitous meeting between Thiebaud and Stone which led to the artist’s landmark solo exhibition in New York in April 1962 at Allan Stone Gallery. While Thiebaud had previously exhibited at various California institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Crocker Art Museum it was through this exhibition and the platform of the Allan Stone Gallery program that he began to receive critical recognition.
Executed in 1962, Untitled (Pie Slice) is representative of a pivotal moment in Wayne Thiebaud’s career. Just the year before he and friend Mel Ramos had made the trip to New York in search of gallery representation. It was on that trip that Wayne Thiebaud met Allan Stone. “Late one afternoon in the spring of ’61 out of the bustle of Madison Avenue a shy reserved man came to the gallery. He was exhausted after spending a depressing day showing galleries his paintings….. unsuccessfully. We were his last stop.” (Allan Stone in Wayne Thiebaud at Allan Stone Gallery: Celebrating 33 Years Together, exh. cat., New York, 1994). It was this fortuitous meeting between Thiebaud and Stone which led to the artist’s landmark solo exhibition in New York in April 1962 at Allan Stone Gallery. While Thiebaud had previously exhibited at various California institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Crocker Art Museum it was through this exhibition and the platform of the Allan Stone Gallery program that he began to receive critical recognition.