Algebra & Functions Using Parenthesis

About the Artist and Artwork

Thiebaud, Wayne (American, born 1920)

Like many artists of his generation, Wayne Thiebaud began his career as a commercial artist, including a short stint as a teen at Walt Disney Studios, before formally studying at San Jose State University. He came to Sacramento in the early 1950s for graduate study at (then) Sacramento State College and taught at Sacramento City College for nine years. In 1960, he joined the faculty of the art department at the University of California, Davis.

Thiebaud might have remained a beloved regional figure but for a 1956–57 teaching hiatus during which he worked on Madison Avenue in New York City. There he became acquainted with Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Philip Pearlstein, and other art luminaries. The turning point was a one-man exhibition at Allan Stone Gallery in 1962, which featured Thiebaud’s still lifes. This happened to be the moment the Pop Art movement captured the nation’s attention, and Thiebaud’s subjects were confectioners’ delights. In a May 1962 Time magazine summation of Pop Art’s stars, Thiebaud’s Allan Stone Gallery show inspired the moniker, The Slice-of-Cake School.

With a bright palette, consumerist imagery, and graphic presentation, Thiebaud’s paintings were of the moment, but differed from Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Rosenquist. Those artists emphasized the methods and appearance of mechanical reproduction, but Thiebaud was a painterly practitioner. Depicting his subjects against clean white backgrounds, he outlined his forms with bands of rainbow color, creating an optical halation that further activated the surface of his work. He set the confections against vibrant blue shadows, and the cool contrast this provided to the artificial colors of the sugary treats became a signature element of Thiebaud’s style. With their thick, luscious impasto, Thiebaud’s paintings are greatly admired for the manner in which his edibles appear fully modeled and tantalizingly delicious.

Thiebaud’s figure studies from the same period, including the portrait of wife Betty Jean, expand upon the explorations evident in the still lifes. In this instance, a contemplative Betty Jean and her open book of portrait studies are rendered in a markedly subdued palette that serves not only to differentiate her importance from other subjects, but also to convey the artist’s greater life aspirations. With this conception, Thiebaud asserted himself as a knowledgeable and dedicated artist as opposed to a passing Pop faddist. Likewise, Thiebaud turned to the landscape during the 1960s and, by the 1980s, was highly regarded for his vertiginous interpretations of the San Francisco cityscape. A profound response to the Sacramento landscape, with its broad river bends and flat, but colorful plains simultaneously runs throughout Thiebaud’s production, resulting in a substantial body of works on paper and luscious oils that establish an intimate record of the artist’s engagement with place.

Lesson Procedure

1. Have students look carefully at the image, Pies, Pies, Pies. This image is accessible on Digital Crocker at crockerartmuseum.org, on the Striking Gold CD ROM, and slides and overheads available for purchase through School Services.

2. Summarize Pies, Pies, Pies to the students and provide a definition of Pop Art.

3. Lead an open class discussion with questions, and record all comments on the board. Ask:

   a. What kinds of pies do you see? What is your favorite kind of cake, pie, or dessert? Do these look delicious or not? How has the artist made them look appetizing?

     b. What shapes do you see in the painting? Where do you see shadows? Explain that the shadows are just as important as the object because the shadow is what shows the form. Explain the difference between a form and a shape (circle vs. sphere, square vs. cube, triangle vs. pyramid). Explain that a shape is 2-D, which has width and height, and a form is 3-D, which has depth as well. Point out the cast shadows in the painting and how they show where the light source is located (from in front of the pies).

     c. How has does the artist show that some pies slices are closer and some are farther away? Explain how objects are shown in space by both placement (objects closer are placed lower in the painting and objects that are farther away are higher) and size (objects that are closer are larger and objects that are farther away are smaller).

     d. Do you think the artist likes pie or not? Why do you think he painted numerous slices instead of just one slice? Do the slices all look the same or do they vary in any way? Where do you see cake displayed this way (in a market, restaurant, bakery, etc.)?

4. Compare how Pop artists used the repetition of consumer products against how Thiebaud has used the rows of sliced pie. How many rows of pies are in the painting? Break students into groups and have them discuss the following math problems:

     a. If Ang bought 16 slices of pie and gave 3 slices to his friends and 2 slices to his sisters, a mathematical expression to calculate the remaining number of slices would be: 16 - (3 + 2) = y.   What is the value of y?

     b. Rihanna bought 3 fruit pies and 2 cream pies. Each pie has 4 slices. Write a mathematical expression to find the total number of pie slices Rhianna bought.

     c. Mario brought 20 slices of pie to class. He wants to divide the slices between 8 students and 2 teachers. Write a mathematical expression to find the total number of slices each person receives.

     d. What is the value of 16 ¸ (3 + 5)?

Day 2

1. Art production: Show students an example of shaded forms (see example in “Downloads”). Lead the class in a discussion of other favorite food items, especially traditional or cultural food items that are personal favorites for the students. Discuss how to relate the food item to a form (a gumball is a sphere, a soda can is a cylinder, a cereal box is a box, and an ice cream cone is a cone). Discuss other examples of forms found in nature.

2. Have students write down ideas for two favorite food items and their corresponding forms on a piece of notebook or scratch paper.

3. Pair students with a partner to discuss their ideas and construct expressions based on the food items. For example, I bought 2 six packs of cola and 3 six packs of root beer. The expression to find the total number of soda cans I bought is 6 x (2 + 3).

4.   After you have approved one food item and its corresponding form for each student, have students practice shading on a piece of scratch paper. Students will need to shade a light, medium, and dark value. Explain to students that a good technique for shading is to move the pencil is a soft circular motion, rather than in hard straight lines. This will enable them to create more realistic and dimensional forms. They can practice by pressing the pencil to the paper so lightly that they can hardly see the shading. By adding additional light layers over and over, students will see that they can create several different values from light to dark.   All students will need to create at least three values, but more advanced students can use more values if desired.

5.   Distribute one sheet of 8 ½ x 11” white copy paper and a ruler to each student.   Have students place the paper horizontally on the desk. Using the ruler vertically against the paper, have students make a mark on the left outer edge of the paper 3” from the top and again on the right outer edge. Have students draw a light line horizontally across the page connecting the measured marks. Explain to the students that this line is called a “horizon line.”

Day 3

6.   Students trace the approved form on the paper in three places, being careful to use placement and size to show the forms in space.

7. Students must imagine where the light source will be in their artwork. They will show the directional light source by the placement of the highlight (no shading) on the forms, shadow on the forms to show dimension and volume, and from the cast shadows.

8. Remind students to refer to the example of shaded forms throughout their work, so that on each form they leave a highlight area that is next to a light value, which gradually darkens to a medium-value shade.

9. The last step is to shade the cast shadows. Point out the shape and position of the cast shadows on the example handout. The cast shadows must be the darkest value in the drawing.

10. Have students write the mathematical expression on the back of the finished drawing. Students can share their drawings and a little story about their favorite foods!