Wayne Thiebaud - Work

Work

Thiebaud is well known for his paintings of production line objects found in diners and cafeterias, such as pies and pastries. Many wonder if he spent time working in the food industry, and in fact he did. As a young man in Long Beach, he worked at a cafe named Mile High and Red Hot, where "Mile High" was ice cream and "Red Hot" was a hot dog.

He was associated with the Pop art painters because of his interest in objects of mass culture, however, his works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists, suggesting that Thiebaud may have had an influence on the movement. Thiebaud uses heavy pigment and exaggerated colors to depict his subjects, and the well-defined shadows characteristic of advertisements are almost always included in his work.

In addition to pastries, Thiebaud has painted characters such as Mickey Mouse as well as landscapes, streetscapes, and cityscapes, which were influenced by the work of Richard Diebenkorn. His paintings such as Sunset Streets (1985) and Flatland River (1997) are noted for their hyper realism, and are in some ways similar to Edward Hopper's work, who was fascinated with mundane scenes from everyday American life.

In his painting, he focuses on the commonplace in a way that suggests irony and objective distance from his subjects. He also makes a point of keeping an independent distance from the New York School.

Thiebaud considers himself not an artist, but a painter. He is a voracious reader and is known for reading poetry to his students. His favorite poet is William Carlos Williams.

Thiebaud spoke at Harvard University School of Design in 1990 where he responded to one of the student's questions, "What do you think defines an artist?" and Mr. Thiebaud responded "An artist creates his own world."

Selected works:

• 1961 Pies, Pies, Pies
• 1962 Around the Cake
• 1962 Bakery Counter
• 1963 Cakes
• 1963 Girl with Ice Cream Cone
• 1964 Man Sitting - Back View
• 1966 Powder With Puff
• 1967-68 Coloma Ridge
• 1970 Seven Suckers
• 1975 Shoe Rows
• 1977 24th Street Intersection
• 1981 Hill Street (Day City)
• 1987 Two Paint Cans
• 1993 Apartment View
• 1996 Farm Channel
• 1999 Reservoir
• 2002 Jolly Cones
• 2010 Google - 12th Birthday Cake