Wayne Thiebaud has died at 101. One of my favorite artists, Mr. Thiebaud was a titan in the world of painting. Although the casual observer remembers his mostly early paintings of food--pies and cakes, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot dogs—in his later years he painted dizzying cityscapes of San Francisco as well as northern California. He was also noted for his figure paintings.
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"Pies, Pies, Pies," oil on panel, 1961
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Mr. Thiebaud had a very long career more than eight decades. His first work as an artist was as an apprentice at Walt Disney Studios when he was still in high school. During World War II he was an artist for the Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit. Afterward he attended college in California, earning bachelor and master degrees in art. From that time onward he observed, taught and painted. And with a few short exceptions he spent the majority of his career in northern California.
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"Up Street." oil, 1993
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Although his subject matter was mundane in many ways, his interest wasn't specifically in the items but in their shapes and colors, and the fall of light. He was a master at manipulation of paint. His still life works of food are manifestly just oil paint but his handling makes them mouth watering, even so. He loved gum ball machines not because they were machines but because of the repetitive colored circles of gumballs within the globes of the dispensers. Because of subject matter like that, more than handling, he was often lumped into the circles of Pop Art but his aesthetic sense was never ironic in the way, say Andy Warhol's was, and he often rejected the label. A realist down to his toes he still strove for the abstract, later realizing that goal in his aerial landscapes of San Francisco streets and the countryside near Sacramento.
In part, Mr. Thiebaud has been an inspiration to me simply because he worked daily at his art until his death. He was quoted by his gallery as saying he had a "...neurotic fixation of trying to learn to paint." Because painting is more than the output of the artist; it's a learning process start to finish, if you let it be.
Goodbye and thank you for a wonderful career and for your inspiring role model.
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"Farm Channel," 1996
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"Winding River," oil, 2002
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"Jackpot Machine," oil, 1962
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"Two Seated Figures," oil, 1964
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