Remembering Wayne Thiebaud
The late painter’s contributions to art, culture, and creativity
Turning the mundane into a masterpiece is no easy feat. But gaze at Wayne Thiebaud’s “Pies, Pies, Pies” (1961) — each slice eye-catching, textured, arranged in neat rows — and it’s clear that this man devoted his career to doing just that. The Sacramento-based artist died on Sunday at the age of 101.
Acquavella, Thiebaud New York City gallery, announced his death on Instagram. They called him, “An American icon,” saying he “led his life with passion and determination, inspired by his love for teaching, tennis, and above all, making art. Even at 101 years old, he still spent most days in the studio, driven by, as he described with his characteristic humility, ‘this almost neurotic fixation of trying to learn to paint.’”
While Thiebaud can be labeled as an artist of contemporary 20th century life, his persona expands far beyond what we see on the canvas. As with his paintings, his life itself was an experiment with shape, form, and color. He paved the way for many artists with his humility, and his willingness to devote himself wholly to the service of interacting with the beauty of the day-to-day.
