Wayne Thiebaud, famed Pop art painter, dies at 101
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Wayne Thiebaud, famed Pop art painter, dies at 101
Sam Whiting and Kenneth Baker December 26, 2021 Updated: December 26, 2021, 4:59 pm
Wayne Thiebaud, internationally known as the dean of West Coast figurative painters who also was credited with originating Pop art, died Saturday, Dec. 25, in Sacramento, his principal residence since the 1950s. He was 101.
His death was confirmed by his gallery, Acquavella.
“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,’” the gallery’s statement said.
Critics credited Thiebaud (pronounced “Tee-bo”), among others, with originating Pop art and extending the lineage of Bay Area Figuration, the region’s emblematic style.
“We have lost a legendary artist as well as a very close, kind, and generous friend with the passing of Wayne Thiebaud,” Neal Benezra, director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, told The Chronicle. “Wayne has for so long held a beloved place in our hearts and our galleries. He will be deeply missed by us all.”
Thiebaud’s high-keyed paintings of foodstuffs, deli and bakery display cases and ordinary objects such as shoes and lipsticks became icons of the late 20th century American mass cravings for pleasure and optimism. He simply saw himself as a sort of chronicler of everyday stuff.
“Of course, you’re thankful when anyone ever calls you anything,” he once said. “But I never felt much a part of it. I must say I never really liked Pop art very much.”
“Untitled (cupcakes), 1999” by Wayne Thiebaud
Photo: Berggruen Gallery
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Wayne Thiebaud’s Street and Shadow, 1982-1983 (1996).
Photo: Thiebaud, Wayne / Crocker Art Museum
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Read more: https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/art-exhibits/wayne-thiebaud-famed-pop-art-painter-dead-at-101
Wayne Thiebaud, internationally known as the dean of West Coast figurative painters who also was credited with originating Pop art, died Dec. 25 in Sacramento, his principal residence since the 1950s. He was 101.
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