Giant Wedge of Pecan Pie

Date1963

Label TextFollowing his pop-up store project in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the artist moved in new directions. "The problem," he said, "became how to individualize the simple objects, how to surprise them -- fragmentation, gigantism, obsession."

Object number2014.25.54

Provenance[Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, New York]; purchased from gallery by Virginia and Bagley Wright, Seattle, Washington, May 2, 1964

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Dwan Gallery, Claes Oldenburg, Oct. 1 - 26, 1963. Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. C. Bagley Wright: Twentieth Century American and European Paintings and Sculpture, Nov. 8 - Dec. 6, 1964. Cat. no. 42. Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, American Sculpture of the Sixties, Apr. 28 - June 25, 1967 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Sept. 15 - Oct. 29, 1967). Cat no. 103, p. 57, reproduced p. 170. New York, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Claes Oldenburg, Sept. 23 - Nov. 23, 1969 (London, United Kingdom, The Tate Gallery, June 24 - Aug. 16, 1970; cat no. 41, reproduced p. 50). Cat. no. 51. Bellingham, Washington, The Western Gallery, Western Washington University, Contemporary Sculpture from Northwest Collections, Mar. 2 - 19, 1971. Pullman, Washington, The Museum of Art, Washington State University, Two Decades of American Sculpture: From Northwest Collections, Oct. 7 - Nov. 18, 1977. Seattle, Washington, The Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, An Urban Vernacular: Narrative American Art, Mar. 12 - Apr. 25, 1982. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, American Sculpture: Three Decades, Nov. 15, 1984 - Jan. 27, 1985. Cat. no. 27, reproduced on back cover. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection of Modern Art, Mar. 4, 1999 - May 5, 1999. Text by Trevor Fairbrother. No cat. no., p. 200. Bellingham, Washington, Western Gallery, Western Washington University, Decades of Giving: Virginia Wright and Sculpture at Western, Sept. 27 - Oct. 13, 1999. Seattle, Washington, Bumbershoot (temporary exhibition space), Bumberbiennale 2004: Consumables, Aug. 31 - Sept. 6, 2004. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, SAM at 75: Building a Collection for Seattle, May 5 - Sept. 9, 2007. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Pop Departures, Oct. 9, 2014 - Jan. 11, 2015. Text by Catharina Manchanda et al., reproduced p. 16 [no object number at time of publication]. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery 1959-1971, Sep. 30, 2016 - Jan. 29, 2017 (Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mar. 19 - Sept. 10, 2017). Text by James Meyer, et al., Cat no. 40, reproduced p. 144. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, City of Tomorrow: Jinny Wright and the Art That Shaped a New Seattle, Oct. 23, 2020 - Jan. 18, 2021.Published ReferencesIshikawa, Chiyo, ed. A Community of Collectors: 75th Anniversary Gifts to the Seattle Art Museum. Seattle, Washington: Seattle Art Museum, 2007; p. 45, reproduced fig. 32.

Credit LineGift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

Dimensions14 3/8 x 50 1/2 x 20 3/4 in. (36.5 x 128.3 x 52.7 cm)

MediumMuslin soaked in plaster over wire frame, wood, painted with enamel