This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  A painter of pop-art realism combined with a great respect for traditional methods and subject matter, Wayne Thiebaud is one of the most prominent of the Bay Area painters in California in the latter part of the 20th century. His reputation spread far beyond his own state.
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 art scene.
He was born in Mesa, Arizona, in 1920, and for one summer during his high school years he apprenticed at the Walt Disney Studio and then studied at an Los Angeles trade school the next summer. He earned a degree from Sacramento State College in 1941. From 1938 to 1949, he worked as a cartoonist and designer in California and New York and served as an artist in the United States Army.
In 1950, at the age of thirty, he enrolled in Sacramento State where he earned a Master's Degree in 1952 and began teaching at Sacramento City College. In 1960, he became assistant professor at the University of California, Davis, where he remained through the 1970s and influenced numerous artist students. However, he did not have much following among Conceptualists because of his adherence to basically traditional disciplines, emphasis on hard work rather than creativity, and love of realism.
On a leave of absence, he spent time in New York City where he became friends with Willem De Kooning and Franz Kline and was much influenced by these abstractionists as well as Pop Artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. During this time, he began a series of very small paintings based on images of food displayed in windows, and he focused on their basic shapes.
Returning to California, he pursued this subject matter and style, isolating triangles, circles, squares, etc. He also co-founded the Artists Cooperative gallery, now Artists Contemporary Gallery, and other cooperatives including Pond Farm, having been exposed to the concept of cooperatives in New York.
Wayne Thiebaud had his first solo show in April 1962 in New York City at the Allan Stone Gallery. His first solo museum show was mounted in San Francisco at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in July 1962, and that same year in October, he was included in the group show, New Realists, at Sidney Janis Gallery, New York.
In 1963, he turned increasingly to figure painting, wooden and rigid with each detail sharply emphasized; in 1967 his work was shown at the Biennale Internationale, and in 1985, he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
From June to September 3, 2001, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor held a special 80th birthday commemorative exhibition titled: Wayne Thiebaud: A Paintings Retrospective.
Sources:
Matthew Baigell, Dictionary of American Art
Michael David Zellman, 300 Years of American Art
Tsujuimoto, Karen. Wayne Thiebaud. San Franciso Museum of Modern Art. Exhibition Catalogue 1985.
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Biography from Rogallery.com:
| Wayne Thiebaud (born Mesa, Arizona, November 23, 1920) is an American
painter whose most famous works are of cakes, pastries, boots, toilets,
toys and lipsticks. His last name is pronounced "Tee-bo." He is
associated with the Pop art movement 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. He has
also been seen, due to his true to life representations, as a
predecessor to photorealism.
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. Wayne Thiebaud is one of the
most prominent of the Bay Area Figurative Movement in California in the
latter part of the 20th century.
Thiebaud was born to Mormon parents in Mesa, Arizona, U.S.A.. His
family moved to Long Beach, California when he was six months old. One
summer during his high school years he apprenticed at the Walt Disney
Studio. The next summer he studied at a Los Angeles trade school.
He earned a degree from Sacramento State College in 1941. From 1938 to
1949, he worked as a cartoonist and designer in California and New York
and served as an artist in the United States Navy.
In 1950, at
the age of thirty, he enrolled in Sacramento State where he earned a
Master's Degree in 1952 and began teaching at Sacramento City College.
In 1960, he became assistant professor at the University of California,
Davis, where he remained through the 1970s and influenced numerous
artist students. However, he did not have much following among
Conceptualists because of his adherence to basically traditional
disciplines, emphasis on hard work as a supplement to creativity, and
love of realism.
On a leave of absence, he spent time in New
York City where he became friends with Willem De Kooning and Franz
Kline and was much influenced by these abstractionists as well as proto
pop artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. During this time, he
began a series of very small paintings based on images of food
displayed in windows, and he focused on their basic shapes.
Returning
to California, he pursued this subject matter and style, isolating
triangles, circles, squares, etc. He also co-founded the Artists
Cooperative gallery, now Artists Contemporary Gallery, and other
cooperatives including Pond Farm, having been exposed to the concept of
cooperatives in New York.
In 1960, he had his first one-man show in San Francisco at the
Museum of Art and in New York City at the Staempfli and Tanager
galleries. These shows received little notice, but two years later, a
1962 Sidney Janis Gallery exhibition in New York officially launched
Pop Art, bringing him national recognition although he disclaimed being
anything other than a painter of illusionistic form.
In 1961
Thiebaud met and became friends with Allan Stone (1932-2006), the man
who gave him his first "break" decades ago. Stone was Thiebaud's dealer
until his (Stone's) death in 2006. Stone said of Thiebaud "I have had
the pleasure of friendship with a complex and talented man, a terrific
teacher and cook, the best raconteur in the west with a spin serve, and
a great painter whose magical touch is exceeded only by his genuine
modesty and humility. Thiebaud's dedication to painting and his pursuit
of excellence inspire all who are lucky enough to come in contact with
him. He is a very special man." The Allan Stone Gallery is
currently located in New York City and carries many other pop-artists
artwork. Since Stone's death, Thiebaud's son Paul has taken over
as his dealer. Paul Thiebaud has been a successful art dealer in his
own right and has eponymous galleries in Manhattan and San Francisco.
In
1962 Thiebauds's work was included, along with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy
Warhol, Jim Dine, Phillip Hefferton, Joe Goode, Edward Ruscha, and
Robert Dowd, in the historically important and ground-breaking "New
Painting of Common Objects," curated by Walter Hopps at the Pasadena
Art Museum. This exhibition is historically considered one of the first
Pop Art exhibitions in America. These painters were part of a new
movement, in a time of social unrest, which shocked America and the art
world and changed art forever.
In 1963, he turned increasingly
to figure painting, wooden and rigid with each detail sharply
emphasized; in 1967 his work was shown at the Biennale Internationale.
One
of Thiebaud's successful students from Sacramento City College was
renowned artist, Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) who went on to become a
major influence in the direction of Indian art through his instruction
at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico
(1964-1969).
Thiebaud is best 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 landscapes, streetscapes,
and popular characters such as Mickey Mouse. His recent 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.
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
* 1967-68 Coloma Ridge
* 1977 24th Street Intersection
* 1981 Hill Street (Day City)
* 1993 Apartment View
* 1996 Farm Channel
* 1999 Reservoir
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Biography from Denis Bloch Fine Art Ltd.:
| Wayne Thiebaud was born November 15, 1920 in Mesa, Arizona. His
family moved to Long Beach, CA when he was six months old. During
high school, Thiebaud apprenticed for a summer at the Walt Disney
Studio and then continued his artistic education at Los Angeles trade
school. He earned a degree from Sacramento State College in 1941
and worked as a cartoonist, designer and served as an artist in the
United States Army Air Force.
In 1950, at the age of thirty, he
enrolled in Sacramento State where he earned a Master's Degree in 1952
and began teaching at Sacramento City College. In 1960, he became
assistant professor at the University of California, Davis, where he
remained through the 1970s and influenced numerous students.
However, he did not have much following among Conceptualists because of
his adherence to basically traditional disciplines, emphasis on hard
work as a supplement to creativity, and love of realism.
On a
leave of absence, he spent time in New York City where he became
friends with Willem De Kooning and Franz Kline and was influenced by
these abstractionists as well as proto pop artists Robert Rauschenberg
and Jasper Johns. During this time, he began a series of very small
paintings based on images of food displayed in windows where he focused
on their basic geometric shapes.
In 1960 he had his first
one-man shows in San Francisco and in New York City. These shows
received little notice, but two years later, a 1962 Sidney Janis
Gallery exhibition in New York officially launched Pop Art, bringing
Thiebaud national recognition although he disclaimed being anything
other than a painter of illusionistic form.
In 1962 Thiebaud's
work was included, along with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jim Dine,
Edward Ruscha, and others, in the ground-breaking "New Painting of
Common Objects," curated by Walter Hopps at the Pasadena Art
Museum. This exhibition is historically important as one of the
first Pop Art exhibitions in America.
He was associated with
the Pop Art painters because of his interest in objects of mass
culture, however, his works, executed during the 1950s-1960s, 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 food and consumer goods, Thiebaud has
painted landscapes, streetscapes, and popular characters such as Mickey
Mouse. His works 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 1964 he made his first
prints at Crown Point Press, and has continued to make prints
throughout his career. In 1967 his work was shown at the Venice
Biennale Internationale.
QUOTE:
“Heroes are really important
in our society, but really the things that matter most are family and
home, whether it's your daily cup of coffee or a warm bathrobe—the
simple pleasures are really important in life. Wouldn't it be great to
have a society where you didn't need heroes?”
Select Museum Collections:
Hirschhorn Museum, Washington, DC
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Tate Gallery, London
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