Sense of Humor
A Comedic Side
At the heart of Candie’s collection, was the undeniable theme that solidified its narrative—her love for 3D art. Yet, there was more to each piece, and although many of the art pieces conveyed a different emotion or captured a unique story, one stood prevalent: her sense of humor. Candice’s collection reflected who she was as an artist and a person with a witty sense of humor.
Part Personality, Part Artistic Taste
Those around Candice, she was known for her sense of wit, and it is not hard to see how that part of her personality became a part of her collection. Many of her pieces had a story punctuated by a punchline—whether overt or subtle, there was humor present. As described by William Secord in “The American Dog at Home” Candice was a person with “a dry and witty sense of humor, and what many find annoying, she finds funny, if not endearing.”
Expression, Artists, Meaning, and the Play of Whim and Wit
With over three hundred distinct artists who made up her collection, it was evident that Candice gravitated toward the artists whose work conveyed wit. From Donald Roller Wilson’s comical take on realistic paintings and monkeys being mischievous to Robert Arneson personified as a dog, Candice’s sense of humor was hard to miss. Her collection is a reminder that humor can be a powerful tool that allows the viewer to enjoy the art, but above all, smile.
I remember...
In her interactions with these pieces, Candice often finds herself smiling at their concealed jokes. I vividly recall a morning when Candice shared how she mimicked a 'funny face' from one of her paintings, sitting in front of the mirror with one eye closed, emulating the lady in the large painting with a cat, which once adorned her penthouse wall.
By infusing artworks with a playful spirit, artists remind us that life, much like art, is a fusion of lightness and depth, seriousness and laughter.
Finding Humor in Art
In a world often taking itself too seriously, Candice’s collection was a delightful visual story of wit and whimsy, inviting onlookers to share in the joy of the hidden humor that surrounds us. Candice often appreciated when the humor that the artists she cherished most expressed a more tongue-in-cheek approach to their works, and ultimately found their way into both her main and secondary collection.
A Playful Assemblage of Art and Antiquity
To Candice, curating this collection was one of her true passions, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t enjoy participating in auctions from all around the world just for fun. This was evident in her secondary collection of taxidermy animals in cowboy gear, paperweights, and pocket watches with erotic themes, or singing automata figures. Her expansive assembly of pocket watches contained many that were double-sided, with a normal watch face to meet the eye, and just beneath its surface, a hidden additional façade with people performing lewd sexual acts.
A cane with a phallic handle, a Kurt Kauper painting of Cary Grant happily taking a stroll in the nude, and much more, her enthrallment with humor extends the eclectic. The humorous pieces varied from small, hand-held pieces, to full-scale sculptures that took up a wall’s worth of space, or a large sum of her front lawn. Her collection had a purposeful vision and a reflection of her personality. Her collected pieces were an expanse of amazing, unique finds that uncovered the deep contours of art that made the viewer feel something, while also a light-hearted bridge to joy, surprise, and profound insight. The beautiful duality of these themes was what made Candice’s collection all the more special.
