Wayne Thiebaud (pronounced: Tee bow)

WAYNE THIEBAUD Born in Mesa, Arizona in Grew up during the Great Depression. He was a boy scout and worked in restaurants. In high school he took art classes and started drawing cartoons. He also worked on stage sets for theater productions. Perhaps this experience with stage lighting gave him the idea to put bright light in his paintings.

In 1961, Thiebaud's food paintings—images of cakes, pies, candy, gumball machines, and deli counters -were exhibited in New York. They were a big hit! Though some scholars called Thiebaud a Pop Artist because he painted popular consumer goods, he said he painted them out of nostalgia; they reminded him of his boyhood and the best of America.

Thiebaud painted things other than food. He made still lifes of neckties, eyeglasses, lipsticks, even cows and dogs. He also painted large portraits of human figures, applying thick paint in bright colors against stark white backgrounds.

Best known for his pop art treatment of cafeteria style foods...cakes, ice cream, pies, hamburgers, hot dogs...he captured these everyday objects that can be found "anywhere in this country [the USA], but only in this country". Many of Thiebaud's paintings show a fascination with basic shapes and forms, and orderliness of arrangement of these forms.

Thiebaud’s Work

“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?”