Wayne Thiebaud (1920–2021)
1961
Oil on canvas
The character of Wayne Thiebaud’s art changed dramatically in 1961, as the loose brushwork of his earlier paintings gave way to more clearly rendered and tightly composed forms. Penny Machines marks the beginning of this transition. Its line-up of three boldly painted sweet dispensers has what Thiebaud called a new ‘head-on directness’ that confidently presents these common commercial objects as small monuments. He uses sweeping strokes of thickly brushed paint to construct the surfaces in bold blue and pink – colours that he would soon cease to use for his backgrounds, preferring more neutral creams and whites.