Wayne Thiebaud

From Philosopedia

Thiebaud, Wayne (15 November 1920 – )

An artist who is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Thiebaud wrote Warren Allen Smith about humanism:

• It seems to me that painting is somewhat anti-categorical by its “nature.” So naturalistic (or aesthetic) humanism is closest to my easel and my life.

Thiebaud's works include “Watermelon Slices“ (1961), which has thick paint slopped on as if with a mop; “Yo-Yos” (1962–1963); “Window Cakes” (1963); “French Pastries” (1963); and “Kneeling Woman” (1964).

Following his first one-man show in Manhattan in 1962, Thiebaud has exhibited throughout the nation. Critic Michael Kimmelman has written,

• Not precisely Pop, his choices of gum ball machines and window displays as subjects for paintings, not to say the sumptuous and eye-popping way he depicts them, make him an uneasy ally of sober Realists like William Bailey. He’s obviously not a Photo-Realist, despite his precision in rendering objects, because his handling of paint is so opulent and sensuous and is so much about paint as a physical and expressive medium.

Kimmelman adds that Thiebaud “doesn’t fit easily into any of the usual slots, which means he’s on the periphery, an odd man out. That is an artistic niche in itself.”

In 1986, Thiebaud was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1994, he was honored at the White House and awarded a National Medal of Arts.

On the back of his letter were the above doodles.

{WAS, 24 August 1992}