Popular Art
Featured Categories
Favorite Subjects
Wayne Thiebaud, Three Machines, 1963
Oil on canvas, 30 × 36½ in. (76.2 × 92.7 cm). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Museum purchase, various Funds and donors, 1993.18
© 2020 Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Wayne Thiebaud’s lushly painted representations of American bakery, delicatessen, and restaurant food displays challenge our preconceptions about what we should consider worthy subjects for fine art, and reveal the fluid boundaries between representation and abstraction. The ostensible realism of Three Machines obscures its artifice. As Thiebaud observed, “Realism . . . seemed alternately the most magical alchemy on the one hand, and on the other the most abstract construct intellectually.”
Thiebaud’s nearly anthropological renderings of American popular culture reveal larger truths. Gumballs are the common denominator of penny candy—a sort of atomic particle of American consumer culture. They also represent, in microcosm, a common cycle of American consumerism, which spans from an imagined ideal, to the pleasure of possession, to a state of diminishing returns, and finally to a sense of loss—until the cycle begins again.
Quality
de Young & Legion of Honor ART on Demand offers exclusive custom reproductions of artworks in the collections and exhibitions of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Hand-made in the USA using gallery-quality materials, we create prints as true to the original work as possible, using strict color management protocols and state-of-the-art printing technology.Selection
Many of the works offered through this store are exclusive and not available anywhere else. We are continually adding new artworks to our offering, so be sure to check back regularly as you build your own gallery. A variety of molding styles means our custom framed prints can match any type of decor.Ordering & Return Policy
All ART on Demand items are custom-made for each order. Please allow 10-14 days for production time. You will receive shipping confimation and tracking upon shipment. Due to the custom nature of these items they are non-returnable.
