Let Them Draw Cake! October 9, 2008

Wayne Thiebaud's Cake Window, from the book Delights

As we celebrate National Cake Decorating Day on Friday, October 10 (people, check your calendars!), I can think of no greater tribute to the sugary art of confection than pausing to look at one of Wayne Thiebaud's own creations. Known for his beautiful renderings of the sweet life from cake to candy (banana splits, lollipops, and cream pies to name a few), Thiebaud made carefully wrought paintings, drawings, and etchings such as Cake Window that bring you close to the promised land of dessert. You may want to reach out and grab a cake or two, but a layer of glass separates you from all those calories.

Thiebaud was born in Arizona in 1920 and started his artistic life as a cartoonist. He broke on to the national scene in the 1960s when pop art was coming into its own. Cake Window is an etching from his 1965 portfolio, Delights, which featured many of the pleasures of everyday life, including a trip to the local bakery. Here cakes are decorated with hearts and swirls and each one looks good enough to eat.

The cakes perched on white plates remind me of circus entertainers who frantically spin multiple plates on long sticks. Thiebaud works a similar magic, creating a perfectly balanced (albeit mouth-watering) composition.

• Wayne Thiebaud, National Cake Decorating Day, Etching, American Art,
  Smithsonian American Art Museum