2002
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Freud Hirst Mercedes-Benz Dinosaur
See also : Freud Hirst Mercedes-Benz Dinosaur
2002 Hockney by Freud
2021 SOLD for £ 15M by Sotheby's
The portraiture by Lucian Freud is unprecedented and one of a kind. He manages to offer to the viewer an intimacy with the sitter, including with himself. A male or female nudity gets rid of man-made artifacts, providing another entry into the soul.
In the portrait heads of their friends, Freud and Bacon had an opposite approach. Bacon relied on photos without the physical presence of his model. Freud caught the model in interminable sessions in his studio during several months. He had to overcome his or her impatience by his chat, made of wit and gossip. He is a Western Scheherazade. Famously, by temperament, Bacon could not play that game. His portrait by Freud in 1957 was left unfinished.
Freud could indeed not use photos. He was peering through repeated close up inspections all the dissymmetries, stains and defects of the skin, on the face and on the nude body. He added layer over layer without erasing up to a deep impasto, creating a sort of paint sculpture on the canvas.
Viewed in photo without that tridimensional effect, the face lines are harsh. In a 2002 picture, Kate Moss does not look like a 28 year old supermodel. A figure by Freud is impersonating without being realistic. This Naked Portrait in pregnancy was sold for £ 3.9M by Christie's on February 9, 2005, lot 28.
Also in 2002, Freud added David Hockney to his sequence of head portraits of friends. At nearly 80, Freud was at the culmination of his signature style. Hockney was 65. His gaze is penetrating and he his ready to add his contribution to the talking. The spectacles were necessary but not so important : Freud added them at the last session. As an artist, Hockney later made clever comment about that experience and on the artistic practice of Lucian Freud.
This 41 x 31 cm oil on canvas bigger than life size was sold for £ 15M from a lower estimate of £ 8M by Sotheby's on June 29, 2021, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
In the portrait heads of their friends, Freud and Bacon had an opposite approach. Bacon relied on photos without the physical presence of his model. Freud caught the model in interminable sessions in his studio during several months. He had to overcome his or her impatience by his chat, made of wit and gossip. He is a Western Scheherazade. Famously, by temperament, Bacon could not play that game. His portrait by Freud in 1957 was left unfinished.
Freud could indeed not use photos. He was peering through repeated close up inspections all the dissymmetries, stains and defects of the skin, on the face and on the nude body. He added layer over layer without erasing up to a deep impasto, creating a sort of paint sculpture on the canvas.
Viewed in photo without that tridimensional effect, the face lines are harsh. In a 2002 picture, Kate Moss does not look like a 28 year old supermodel. A figure by Freud is impersonating without being realistic. This Naked Portrait in pregnancy was sold for £ 3.9M by Christie's on February 9, 2005, lot 28.
Also in 2002, Freud added David Hockney to his sequence of head portraits of friends. At nearly 80, Freud was at the culmination of his signature style. Hockney was 65. His gaze is penetrating and he his ready to add his contribution to the talking. The spectacles were necessary but not so important : Freud added them at the last session. As an artist, Hockney later made clever comment about that experience and on the artistic practice of Lucian Freud.
This 41 x 31 cm oil on canvas bigger than life size was sold for £ 15M from a lower estimate of £ 8M by Sotheby's on June 29, 2021, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
2002 The Ocean Dream
2026 SOLD for CHF 13.6M by Christie's
The Ocean Dream was sold by Christie's for CHF 7.8M on May 14, 2014, lot 180 and for CHF 13.6M on May 13, 2026, lot 90.
The Ocean Dream is a 5.50–5.51 carat fancy vivid (or deep) blue-green triangular-cut diamond, recognized by the GIA as the largest known of its color and type (Type Ia or IIa in sources). It sold for over CHF 13.5 million (about $17.3 million) at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on May 13, 2026—setting a record for a diamond of its kind and more than doubling its 2014 sale price.
Extraction Date of the Rough
The rough diamond (weighing ~11.70 carats) was discovered/found in Central Africa in the 1990s (most sources, including Christie's official press). Some accounts specify 2002, after which it was acquired by Cora Diamond Corporation in New York.It was cut (by master cutter Mazhar Saylam, per Wikipedia) into its final triangular shape before its public debut. The triangular cut helped preserve the rare radiation-induced blue-green color, which is highly sensitive to heat during polishing.
Full History
Exact mine details are not publicly disclosed (common for many diamonds), and provenance focuses on the rough's African origin and post-discovery path through Cora and Christie's.
The Ocean Dream is a 5.50–5.51 carat fancy vivid (or deep) blue-green triangular-cut diamond, recognized by the GIA as the largest known of its color and type (Type Ia or IIa in sources). It sold for over CHF 13.5 million (about $17.3 million) at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on May 13, 2026—setting a record for a diamond of its kind and more than doubling its 2014 sale price.
Extraction Date of the Rough
The rough diamond (weighing ~11.70 carats) was discovered/found in Central Africa in the 1990s (most sources, including Christie's official press). Some accounts specify 2002, after which it was acquired by Cora Diamond Corporation in New York.It was cut (by master cutter Mazhar Saylam, per Wikipedia) into its final triangular shape before its public debut. The triangular cut helped preserve the rare radiation-induced blue-green color, which is highly sensitive to heat during polishing.
Full History
- Pre-2003: Rough discovered in Central Africa (1990s/2002). Purchased by Cora Diamond Corp. and carefully cut/polished over months (a high-risk process due to color sensitivity).
- 2003: Public debut in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's "Splendor of Diamonds" exhibition in Washington, D.C. (Harry Winston Gallery), alongside other legendary colored diamonds like the Moussaieff Red, Steinmetz Pink, and De Beers Millennium Star. It was highlighted as one of the world's rarest.
- May 2014: First auction appearance at Christie's Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale. Sold for ~CHF 7.7 million (about $8.6–9.8 million depending on exchange/hammer vs. total). Set in a ring with sculpted rock crystal, round diamonds, and pink diamonds.
- 2014–2026: Held in a single private collection.
- May 13, 2026: Re-auctioned at Christie's Geneva (Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues). Sold after ~20 minutes of bidding to an anonymous private client for ~$17.3 million (record for a fancy vivid blue-green diamond).
Exact mine details are not publicly disclosed (common for many diamonds), and provenance focuses on the rough's African origin and post-discovery path through Cora and Christie's.
2002 Lullaby Spring cabinet by Hirst
2007 SOLD for £ 9.7M by Sotheby's
Damien Hirst has built his career on the psychological impossibility of death, which is nevertheless a real and inevitable fact. By 1992, only one year after his first immersions of animals in formaldehyde, he worships pharmacy considered as a beneficial link between life and death.
The twentieth century had experienced the development of abstract art. The basic symbol of his pharmacy is the pill whose geometry and color may vary on artist's discretion without imposing a realistic structure. It is estimated that the artist created about 23 pill cabinet between 1999 and 2010.
In the following of impressionism and expressionism, Hirst appropriates the seasons for a symbolist variation in the colors of his pills. This phase of creativity culminates with four models of pharmaceutical cabinets made in 2002 in stainless steel and glass. Each of these installations, 183 x 274 x 10 cm, displays several thousand of pills painted in various colors with a visual effect doubled by a back mirror wall.
The 2002 Lullaby Spring cabinet with 6,136 fake pills on its shelves was sold for £ 9.7M by Sotheby's on June 21, 2007 from a lower estimate of £ 3M, lot 36.
The Lullaby Winter executed in 2002 was sold for $ 7.4M by Christie's on May 16, 2007. It was later reported that it was unpaid at that sale. It remained in Christie's ownership until being sold for £ 3.05M on February 11, 2015, lot 21.
The twentieth century had experienced the development of abstract art. The basic symbol of his pharmacy is the pill whose geometry and color may vary on artist's discretion without imposing a realistic structure. It is estimated that the artist created about 23 pill cabinet between 1999 and 2010.
In the following of impressionism and expressionism, Hirst appropriates the seasons for a symbolist variation in the colors of his pills. This phase of creativity culminates with four models of pharmaceutical cabinets made in 2002 in stainless steel and glass. Each of these installations, 183 x 274 x 10 cm, displays several thousand of pills painted in various colors with a visual effect doubled by a back mirror wall.
The 2002 Lullaby Spring cabinet with 6,136 fake pills on its shelves was sold for £ 9.7M by Sotheby's on June 21, 2007 from a lower estimate of £ 3M, lot 36.
The Lullaby Winter executed in 2002 was sold for $ 7.4M by Christie's on May 16, 2007. It was later reported that it was unpaid at that sale. It remained in Christie's ownership until being sold for £ 3.05M on February 11, 2015, lot 21.
2002 RYMAN
1
Link
2014 SOLD for $ 11.4M by Christie's
Robert Ryman is the artist of white on white. Feeling of himself as a non narrative experimenter, he offers a variety of brush strokes on monumental canvases. A thick impasto creates surface asperities and generates brightness variations under the light. He perceives his art as unlimited.
His quest for the absolute purity of the white is enhanced by the use of staggering square or near square canvases.
Bridge, 192 x 183 cm made in 1980, was sold for $ 20.6M by Christie's on May 13, 2015, lot 38 B. In the same size, Link realized in 2002 on linen was sold for $ 11,4M by Christie's on November 12, 2014, lot 34.
His quest for the absolute purity of the white is enhanced by the use of staggering square or near square canvases.
Bridge, 192 x 183 cm made in 1980, was sold for $ 20.6M by Christie's on May 13, 2015, lot 38 B. In the same size, Link realized in 2002 on linen was sold for $ 11,4M by Christie's on November 12, 2014, lot 34.
2
Connect
2016 SOLD for $ 10.8M by Christie's
Connect, oil on square canvas 188 x 188 cm painted by Ryman in 2002, was sold for $ 10.8M by Christie's on November 15, 2016, lot 27 A.
3
Swift
2022 SOLD for $ 10.7M by Sotheby's
Swift, oil on square canvas 213 x 213 cm painted in 2002, was acquired by Macklowe in the following year. It was sold for $ 10.7M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022 in the second sale of that collection, lot 6.
2002 Former Residence of Qiu Jin by Wu Guanzhong
2011 SOLD for RMB 75M by Poly
In the 1980s Wu Guanzhong painted in ink the view of a house stated as the former residence of Qiu Jin. It is in the style of the swallows series, with a white walled low roofed house in a full width frontal view, inspired by dwellings in Jiangnan.
A replica painted in 2002 comes close to abstraction with no mark about the depth. The scale is nevertheless provided by the group of tiny swallows on the wires behind the roof. The closed door standing up to the sky in a deep black has a small window on its upper end. The foreground of the house is a pattern of white, black and gray square slabs.
The rebel feminist Qiu Jin had been beheaded in 1907, aged about 32. In the conception of the artist the door is her coffin and the swallows are her mourners.
This oil on canvas 70 x 140 cm was sold for RMB 75M from a lower estimate of RMB 28M by Poly on December 3, 2011, lot 380. The image is in fourth position in the report by Artron on Poly's 2011 autumn auctions.
A replica painted in 2002 comes close to abstraction with no mark about the depth. The scale is nevertheless provided by the group of tiny swallows on the wires behind the roof. The closed door standing up to the sky in a deep black has a small window on its upper end. The foreground of the house is a pattern of white, black and gray square slabs.
The rebel feminist Qiu Jin had been beheaded in 1907, aged about 32. In the conception of the artist the door is her coffin and the swallows are her mourners.
This oil on canvas 70 x 140 cm was sold for RMB 75M from a lower estimate of RMB 28M by Poly on December 3, 2011, lot 380. The image is in fourth position in the report by Artron on Poly's 2011 autumn auctions.
2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster
2023 SOLD for $ 10.2M by RM Sotheby's
Mercedes-Benz was supported since 1967 for the high performance engineering and custom projects by their partner AMG, which will be fully owned by the corporate in 2005.
The international organizations that manage the motor sport are continuously oscillating between promoting prototypes and grand touring. Announced in 1994, the initiative of the BPR Global GT Series is highly appealing the manufacturers. From the 1997 season, the FIA takes back the direct control of these competitions.
The FIA did not give up the old idea of a competition class that can be used to support the sales of high-end cars. The GT1 category is announced in 1996 for a start on the following year. Its specifications allow improvements that will not serve the basic model, including specific materials, improved aerodynamics, larger brakes and wider tires.
Mercedes-Benz cheers the GT1 as a great showcase to promote its supercars against McLaren and Ferrari. The release in just a few months by AMG of the CLK GTR would prove that discussions with the FIA had lasted for a significant time. The GT1 is close to a prototype category for which the returns on investment are not a foregone conclusion and Chrysler, for example, did not venture there.
The GT1 regulations require a population of 25 road homologated cars. The industrial challenge is so important that the organizers are tolerant for some interpretations of the rules. Mercedes-Benz has its car approved in GT1 before beginning the production model.
The supporting Strassenversion of the Mercedes-Benz AMG is made of 20 coupes and 6 roadsters. The production of these customer cars started in the summer of 1998, more than one year after the racing involvement of the prototypes.
These road cars that support the GT1 version are in period the most expensive cars on the market : around $ 1 million for the coupe and $ 1.5 million for the roadster, the world record in period for the most expensive commercially available road car.
That Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR, followed in 1998 by the CLK LM, was only loosely related to the new luxury mid size CLK class.
The success of the GTR and of the LM was so overwhelming that Porsche, McLaren, Ferrari and BMW gave up. The FIA GT1 and GT2 did not survive the 1998 season. Mercedes-Benz's ambitions in this class of competition are canceled in 1999 by the disastrous instability of the next model, the CLR, along with a further change in the rules of the FIA.The CLK GTR coupe has a follower in the CLK GTR roadster with open top. Built in 6 units by HWA which was the successor to AMG from 1999, this model was capable of reaching 320 km/h (in theory).
Mercedes-Benz had kept until 2014 the first of these six roadsters, which was revised by them before being sold to an investor who did not intend to use it. This beautiful black car with only 8 km from new was sold for £ 1.5M by Bonhams on June 26, 2015, lot 340.
The 3rd roadster is dated 2002. With 170 km from new, it was sold for $ 10.2M by RM Sotheby's on November 17, 2023, lot 38. It is finished in silver paint over a black and grey leather interior.
The international organizations that manage the motor sport are continuously oscillating between promoting prototypes and grand touring. Announced in 1994, the initiative of the BPR Global GT Series is highly appealing the manufacturers. From the 1997 season, the FIA takes back the direct control of these competitions.
The FIA did not give up the old idea of a competition class that can be used to support the sales of high-end cars. The GT1 category is announced in 1996 for a start on the following year. Its specifications allow improvements that will not serve the basic model, including specific materials, improved aerodynamics, larger brakes and wider tires.
Mercedes-Benz cheers the GT1 as a great showcase to promote its supercars against McLaren and Ferrari. The release in just a few months by AMG of the CLK GTR would prove that discussions with the FIA had lasted for a significant time. The GT1 is close to a prototype category for which the returns on investment are not a foregone conclusion and Chrysler, for example, did not venture there.
The GT1 regulations require a population of 25 road homologated cars. The industrial challenge is so important that the organizers are tolerant for some interpretations of the rules. Mercedes-Benz has its car approved in GT1 before beginning the production model.
The supporting Strassenversion of the Mercedes-Benz AMG is made of 20 coupes and 6 roadsters. The production of these customer cars started in the summer of 1998, more than one year after the racing involvement of the prototypes.
These road cars that support the GT1 version are in period the most expensive cars on the market : around $ 1 million for the coupe and $ 1.5 million for the roadster, the world record in period for the most expensive commercially available road car.
That Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR, followed in 1998 by the CLK LM, was only loosely related to the new luxury mid size CLK class.
The success of the GTR and of the LM was so overwhelming that Porsche, McLaren, Ferrari and BMW gave up. The FIA GT1 and GT2 did not survive the 1998 season. Mercedes-Benz's ambitions in this class of competition are canceled in 1999 by the disastrous instability of the next model, the CLR, along with a further change in the rules of the FIA.The CLK GTR coupe has a follower in the CLK GTR roadster with open top. Built in 6 units by HWA which was the successor to AMG from 1999, this model was capable of reaching 320 km/h (in theory).
Mercedes-Benz had kept until 2014 the first of these six roadsters, which was revised by them before being sold to an investor who did not intend to use it. This beautiful black car with only 8 km from new was sold for £ 1.5M by Bonhams on June 26, 2015, lot 340.
The 3rd roadster is dated 2002. With 170 km from new, it was sold for $ 10.2M by RM Sotheby's on November 17, 2023, lot 38. It is finished in silver paint over a black and grey leather interior.
1994-2002 Adult and Juvenile Allosaurs
2024 SOLD for £ 8.1M by Christie's
The allosaurus was the king of its land during the Upper Jurassic period around 155 million years ago, but its geographical distribution was apparently limited : most skeletons are excavated in Wyoming. The silting up of a river or a mudslide had buried these dinosaurs before the bodies were dislocated and the fossilized bones were kept in excellent condition.
The allosaurus has a remarkable similarity with its much later successor the Cretaceous tyrannosaurus but it is smaller. It has all the characteristics of the most formidable predators. The claws gripped and lacerated the prey and the 7 cm long teeth were curved backwards to prevent the victim from escaping. The very tall hind legs attest to its frightening power.
An adult specimen can reach ten meters, further strengthening the likeness with a tyrannosaur. A specimen with that length and mounted 3.50 m high ready for an attack was sold for € 3.07M by Binoche et Giquello on October 13, 2020, lot 140. Three ribs have traces of wounds, certainly in a fight with another beast.
Juvenile specimens are extremely rare, perhaps because their death was often due to predators that showed poor respect for the integrity of their bones. They are interesting by the proportions of their limbs still in growth phase. A juvenile allosaur 3.80 m long was sold for € 1.4M by Binoche et Giquello on April 11, 2018, lot 71. It is 60 % complete.
Two fossil skeletons of allosaurus were found and excavated in a same quarry in Wyoming. First was an adult, in 1994-1995, 182 x 560 x 260 cm after mounting. Its juvenile fellow, 153 x 346 x 84 cm, followed in 2002. Respectively 143 and 137 bone elements were collected. Color is black. They were mounted in Germany in 2022 after an additional excavation campaign. Missing bones have been cast from 3D printing material.
Their difference of proportion and thickness of shin and foot suggests that the younger was more agile, enabling it to chase small preys.
The set is not separated. It was sold for £ 8.1M from a lower estimate of £ 5M by Christie's on December 12, 2024, lot 2.
The fossil skeleton of a stegosaur had been found in 2002 in the same quarry in Wyoming as the two allosaurs, adult and juvenile, narrated below. It was sold for £ 4.3M by Christie's in the same sale, on December 12, 2024, lot 1.
This stegosaur is made of 144 original fossil bone elements in black color plus casts from 3D printing for the missing bones. A plate has a fossil scar from an encounter with a predator.
It was mounted in Germany in 2023 after an additional excavation campaign. Its size is 240 x 540 x 206 cm after mounting.
The allosaurus has a remarkable similarity with its much later successor the Cretaceous tyrannosaurus but it is smaller. It has all the characteristics of the most formidable predators. The claws gripped and lacerated the prey and the 7 cm long teeth were curved backwards to prevent the victim from escaping. The very tall hind legs attest to its frightening power.
An adult specimen can reach ten meters, further strengthening the likeness with a tyrannosaur. A specimen with that length and mounted 3.50 m high ready for an attack was sold for € 3.07M by Binoche et Giquello on October 13, 2020, lot 140. Three ribs have traces of wounds, certainly in a fight with another beast.
Juvenile specimens are extremely rare, perhaps because their death was often due to predators that showed poor respect for the integrity of their bones. They are interesting by the proportions of their limbs still in growth phase. A juvenile allosaur 3.80 m long was sold for € 1.4M by Binoche et Giquello on April 11, 2018, lot 71. It is 60 % complete.
Two fossil skeletons of allosaurus were found and excavated in a same quarry in Wyoming. First was an adult, in 1994-1995, 182 x 560 x 260 cm after mounting. Its juvenile fellow, 153 x 346 x 84 cm, followed in 2002. Respectively 143 and 137 bone elements were collected. Color is black. They were mounted in Germany in 2022 after an additional excavation campaign. Missing bones have been cast from 3D printing material.
Their difference of proportion and thickness of shin and foot suggests that the younger was more agile, enabling it to chase small preys.
The set is not separated. It was sold for £ 8.1M from a lower estimate of £ 5M by Christie's on December 12, 2024, lot 2.
The fossil skeleton of a stegosaur had been found in 2002 in the same quarry in Wyoming as the two allosaurs, adult and juvenile, narrated below. It was sold for £ 4.3M by Christie's in the same sale, on December 12, 2024, lot 1.
This stegosaur is made of 144 original fossil bone elements in black color plus casts from 3D printing for the missing bones. A plate has a fossil scar from an encounter with a predator.
It was mounted in Germany in 2023 after an additional excavation campaign. Its size is 240 x 540 x 206 cm after mounting.
Three iconic dinosaurs of the Jurassic period, unearthed in Wyoming and coming to Christie’s in London. We talk to one of the palaeontologists whose excavations uncovered a mighty Stegosaurus along with two examples of Allosaurus. Explore more here: https://t.co/xKNH3KXCgI pic.twitter.com/j5Apmi1m5B
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) December 2, 2024
2002 Winding River by Thiebaud
2021 SOLD for $ 9.8M by Phillips
The leading thread of Wayne Thiebaud's pictures is an association between forms and colors. He is not interested in realism. The cakes are one of his preferred themes because manufactured artifacts have no standardized shape.
He also used these concepts in cityscapes and landscapes. His series of large scale bird's eye views of rivers, begun in the mid 1990s, are directly inspired by the meanders of his beloved Sacramento River Delta, splitting the countryside in a variety of agricultural textures. The emotional effect of his colors reminds Diebenkorn's Californian abstractions.
On June 23, 2021, Phillips sold for $ 9.8M from a lower estimate of $ 6M Winding River, acrylic on canvas 183 x 153 cm painted in 2002, lot 21. Please watch the short video shared by Phillips.
Its flexible forms separating a variety of textures remind the abstract paintings of sinuous lines in de Kooning's last period. Phillips offers also a convincing comparison with the winding road of Nichols Canyon painted by Hockney in 1980.
From the same series, River Stretch, oil and pastel in canvas 183 x 91 cm painted in 2000 was sold for $ 3.9M by Christie's on November 17, 2025, lot 32A. Delta Water, acrylic on canvas 122 x 183 cm painted in 2003, was sold for $ 3M by Christie's on November 8, 2011, lot 78. The water channels take the daring shape of an octopus, with smaller rivers falling into a sharp meander.
Grok thought :
Wayne Thiebaud's Winding River (2002) is an exemplary work from his Sacramento River Delta series, which he began in the late 1990s. This series draws from Thiebaud's personal memories of farming in Southern Utah and his grandfather's California farm, evoking a nostalgic vision of Americana through depictions of meandering rivers amid agricultural landscapes. It showcases Thiebaud's signature style: vibrant, unnatural colors; strong contrasts; unconventional perspectives; and a tension between realism and abstraction, often incorporating halo effects (glowing outlines) and impasto (thick paint application) to create a sensuous, almost confectionary quality reminiscent of his famous dessert still lifes. They reflect his approach of compositing elements from memory and imagination, blending seasons, times of day, and natural forces into dynamic compositions that transcend literal representation.
He also used these concepts in cityscapes and landscapes. His series of large scale bird's eye views of rivers, begun in the mid 1990s, are directly inspired by the meanders of his beloved Sacramento River Delta, splitting the countryside in a variety of agricultural textures. The emotional effect of his colors reminds Diebenkorn's Californian abstractions.
On June 23, 2021, Phillips sold for $ 9.8M from a lower estimate of $ 6M Winding River, acrylic on canvas 183 x 153 cm painted in 2002, lot 21. Please watch the short video shared by Phillips.
Its flexible forms separating a variety of textures remind the abstract paintings of sinuous lines in de Kooning's last period. Phillips offers also a convincing comparison with the winding road of Nichols Canyon painted by Hockney in 1980.
From the same series, River Stretch, oil and pastel in canvas 183 x 91 cm painted in 2000 was sold for $ 3.9M by Christie's on November 17, 2025, lot 32A. Delta Water, acrylic on canvas 122 x 183 cm painted in 2003, was sold for $ 3M by Christie's on November 8, 2011, lot 78. The water channels take the daring shape of an octopus, with smaller rivers falling into a sharp meander.
Grok thought :
Wayne Thiebaud's Winding River (2002) is an exemplary work from his Sacramento River Delta series, which he began in the late 1990s. This series draws from Thiebaud's personal memories of farming in Southern Utah and his grandfather's California farm, evoking a nostalgic vision of Americana through depictions of meandering rivers amid agricultural landscapes. It showcases Thiebaud's signature style: vibrant, unnatural colors; strong contrasts; unconventional perspectives; and a tension between realism and abstraction, often incorporating halo effects (glowing outlines) and impasto (thick paint application) to create a sensuous, almost confectionary quality reminiscent of his famous dessert still lifes. They reflect his approach of compositing elements from memory and imagination, blending seasons, times of day, and natural forces into dynamic compositions that transcend literal representation.
