Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud – Wayne Thiebaud’s famous, literally candy-colored still lifes of pies, cakes, gumball machines, and lipsticks reflect the promise and abundance of the American way of life―a society of plenty, where supply exceeds demand. The tactile impression created by his pasty layers of paint brings the objects to life and creates an atmosphere in which irony and melancholy are carefully balanced. Testing the possibilities of painterly expression, Thiebaud’s brilliant painting technique explores the boundaries of the real and imagined world. This catalogue presents all aspects of the legendary American artist’s oeuvre, including still lifes and portraits, as well as his deserted, multi-perspective cityscapes and river landscapes, in luminous pastels that exude a peculiar summertime sadness.

WAYNE THIEBAUD (1920, Mesa, AZ–2021, Sacramento, CA) began his career as a cartoonist and graphic designer, briefly working for Walt Disney Studios. As an artist, Thiebaud was associated with the US Pop Art movement: his still lifes gained nationwide attention as part of the landmark exhibition New Paintings of Common Objects in 1962, which also featured Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Ed Ruscha and is considered a milestone in the critical reception of Pop Art.

The exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler will show the many facets of Thiebaud’s work: in addition to still lifes, it will also include portraits as well as urban and natural landscapes with multiple perspectives with which he renewed this seemingly ancient genre in art history.