Let Them Eat Cake

YGL Gallery presents a multi-tiered exhibit that's sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Jun 07, 2024

Welcome to the YGL Gallery where you’ll find a curation of artworks, articles, and items that orbit around a common theme. Allow me to hang your coat while you waltz through the rooms below—please enjoy the show and visit again soon!

Let Them Eat Cake 🍰

Every year around my husband’s birthday, I hum and haw over which type of cake to bake. If it were up to him, we would be eating devil’s food cake at every opportunity (which is better than the angel food my Dad loves best). This year I wanted to offer something different. I’ve dabbled with carrot cakes, a limoncello olive oil torte, and the classic bundt, but I desired something new—a culinary challenge. So off I went down a cake-shaped rabbit hole to find a worthy recipe for the occasion. Somewhere along the way, I started daydreaming about curating an art exhibit filled with buttercream ruffles and layers upon layers of spongecake. Without access to a physical studio or an industrial kitchen, I decided to make use of this fine slice of real estate instead! After a few minor renovations, I managed to transform my newsletter into an up-and-coming confectionery museum. Please enjoy the sweet-filled collections below and let me know what you think!

Entering the Main Gallery

Left: Slice of Cake by **Claes Oldenburg** (1963) - Lithograph. Right: Cake Slice by **Claes Oldenburg** (1962) - Watercolour, gouache, and charcoal on paper.

Still Life with Cake by **Raphaelle Peale** (1818) - Oil on wood.

To bake a cake is to bring art and love into your world.

Cakes are often linked with emotional experiences like birthdays, weddings, graduations, and holidays. They represent shared moments with loved ones, milestone achievements, and sweet, sweet abundance. Close your eyes, envision the candles you’ve once blown out, and make a wish.

Left: Walking Cake by **Laurie Simmons** (1949) - Photograph. Right: Sweet by **Will Cotton** (2009) - Acrylic on polystyrene.

Birthday Cake by **Grandma Moses** (1953) - Oil and tempera on board.

“Why not question what can or can’t be a layer in layer cake?” - Christina Tosi

Floor Cake by **Claes Oldenburg** (1962) - Synthetic polymer paint and latex on canvas filled with foam rubber and cardboard boxes.

Left: Cake by **Jeff Koons** (1997) - Oil on canvas. Right: Mother’s Cake by **Andy Warhol** (1959) - Gold leaf, watercolour, and ink on paper.

What does it mean to take all the cake? Yinka Shonibare answers the question with symbolic sculptures below.1

Cake Man Sculptures by **Yinka Shonibare** (2014) - Multiple materials and found items.

Left: Wedding Cake, Wine, Almonds, and Raisins by **Rubens Peale** (1869) - Oil on canvas. Right: The New Yorker cover art by **Leonard Dove** (1928).

A look in the Display Case

Meissen Filigree Cake Stand (19th Century)
Chanel Multicolour Cake Printed Cotton Dress (2004)
George IV Silver Two-Tier Cake Stand (1828)
Original Strawberry Shortcake Doll (1979)
Wedgwood Caneware 'Conceit' Model of a Cake (18th Century)2

Artist in Residence: Wayne Thiebaud

Cakes by **Wayne Thiebaud** (1963) at The National Gallery of Art, Washington - Oil on canvas.

When Wayne Thiebaud began painting food he thought, “‘That certainly has to be the end of me as a serious painter—a slice of pie.’ But I couldn’t leave it alone...It seemed to be the most genuine thing I had done.”

Thank goodness the California based artist continued painting his dreamlike confections—aren’t they wonderful? His works bring colour, sweetness, and joy to viewers—much like the man himself. Wayne Thiebaud lived until the incredible age of 101. His love for cartoons as a child led him to study commercial art in high school. He began his career through sign painting, movie poster illustrations, and a brief apprenticeship at the Disney studios. By his early forties he was included in two historic and groundbreaking shows that established the American pop-art movement and launched his career into the limelight. Thiebaud’s cakes have become recognizable and iconic worldwide and his work can be found in most major modern collections.

Three Half Cakes (1966) - Oil on canvas, One and a Half Cakes (1981) - Oil on board, & Encased Cakes (2011) - Oil on canvas.

Two Wedding Cakes (2015) - Oil on wood panel.

"You can’t tell what food tastes like by looking at it, any more than you can tell what people are like merely by looking at them.” - Wayne Thiebaud

Thiebaud paints with thick swatches of paint that literally rise off the canvas—mimicking the frosted crests of a freshly iced cake. His works have a nostalgic feel to them, all appearing to live in classic 1960s American style diners. I love the tidiness, the symmetrical rows, and the perfectly proportioned slices. Even though the colours are vivid and lively, these treats have a soothing quality to them. I imagine him being very peaceful when creating them.

Left: Chocolate Cake (1971) - Lithograph. Right: Lemon Meringue Slices (1990) - Oil on canvas.

The next time you visit a major museum or art gallery, you may just find one of his cakes, pies, or desserts hung on the walls. What a treat! 🍰

From the Gallery Archives

Top 100 cakes from around the globe.

The science of baking a cake.

The trendy extra-long wedding cakes you’ll see this summer.

Masterclass: How to keep cakes moist.

Baking to curb anxiety.

“You can't have your cake and eat it too” is a well-known figure of speech. This English proverb literally means "you cannot simultaneously retain possession of a cake and also eat it". Once the cake is eaten, it’s gone.

Memorable cakes in film:

The many cakes of Marie Antoinette (2006)
Hagrid’s cake for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)
Bruce Bogtrotter’s chocolate cake in Matilda (1996)
Aurora’s magical 16th birthday cake from Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Face mask fridge cake from Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Red velvet armadillo cake in Steel Magnolias (1989)

Exit Through The Gift Shop

A few fun gifts for the ones who love to bake, are always up for frills, welcome good cheer, or who simply appreciate multi-tiered shapes. Thank you again for visiting the gallery today, it means a lot to have you here. If you love the idea of cake as much as I do, but can’t always commit to all the whisking and whipping, I’ve picked out some fun items for you as well. Happy browsing!

"A party without cake is just a meeting." - Julia Child

- Birthday Cake art print by Niamh Birch.
- Handmade ceramic wedding cake lamp base.
- Dramatically tall birthday cake candles.
- Rattan cake pendant shade.
- Handmade birchwood birthday cake toys.
- A birthday card with a plantable wildflower envelope.
- Sabre Paris cake lifters in pearl and moss.
- A fun platter for showcasing your cakes.
- Top rated cookbook for simply elegant cakes.

Now that I’ve spent all my time curating this exhibit, it looks like I’ll be making Scott a devil’s food cake after all—which I am scheduled to serve tomorrow night! I’ll be using this recipe (a fudgy coffee-filled delight) but swapping out the buttercream for a light and fluffy whipped cream cheese frosting. I’ll also be adding a layer of fresh blackberries to the middle and top of the cake. Wish me luck and feel free to send me all your most memorable cake stories.

Until next week,

Word of mouth is the best way for me to grow this community. For the love of cake, please consider liking and sharing. Grazie mille!

The cake man “is my tribute to bankers,” says Yinka Shonibare. “There’s been a lot of talk about bonuses to bankers and the top 1% literally taking all the cake.” The cake man’s head is imprinted with a forecast of the global stock market, adding further symbolism of the modern obsession with money and consumer goods. Read more here.

Conceits were used as table decoration during the late 18th and early 19th centuries when flour and sugar models were in short supply. They were designed to simulate elaborate confections.