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Famous for his dreamy 1960s paintings of cakes, Wayne Thiebaud began his career as a commercial artist and cartoon illustrator like many other artists of the period, including Andy Warhol. And like Warhol, Thiebaud became tied to pop art since he was making images of popular American products like food, lipsticks, and toys. Yet unlike many of his pop peers, Bay Area-based Thiebaud wasn't interested in poking fun at the establishment. He's a painter's painter, a real traditionalist. Wayne Thiebaud: A Paintings Retrospective covers a career of rendering still lifes, cityscapes, landscapes, and the figure. His cake paintings are formally beautiful in their color, shadow, and composition. They are perfect specimens of the good life in America, the paint lovingly applied in places like thick frosting. His cityscapes of San Francisco fiercely exaggerate the hilly landscape, capturing a perspective from the ground and air simultaneously while utilizing the light that the Bay Area is famous for.

Thoughtful essays by Steven A. Nash, associate director and chief curator for the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and Adam Gopnik, a writer for The New Yorker, discuss Thiebaud in relation to his peers, pop, modernism, and abstract expressionism. This book serves as a catalog for Thiebaud's major retrospective, which opened in San Francisco and travels to Forth Worth, Texas, Washington, D.C., and ends in New York in the fall of 2001. Besides their beauty, these works truly capture a period of American life in a way that feels free of irony but not without commentary about nature, the city, and how we've lived. --J.P. Cohen ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Wayne Thiebaud: A Paintings Retrospective
an excellent book with excellent reproductions. i enjoyed it.

amazing artist, gentle spirit, and wonderful book
After working this past summer in the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC and being there for the opening of the Thiebaud show, I can certainly say that I have become filled with a nostalgic longing and a love for both Thiebaud's art as well as the manner in which he comports himself as an artist and as a person. I could have received no better gift from my supervisor at the end of my summer employment than this beautiful and gentle book. Though certainly there is nothing like looking at the works of art themselves, this book was fully capable of stirring my memory...much the same way as Thiebaud's art itself had a few weeks prior. This book is a highly treasured part of my collection of art books...truly a high point of my books in general, and I would highly recommend it to those well versed in the works of this gentleman as well as those who have not yet had the pleasure of his honest and warm friendship. ~greg

Color Quality
I purchased this book right after walking through the Thiebaud retrospective at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. I usually don't like to buy books after I've seen the work firsthand as the color never compares with the paintings I had just seen. In this case, though, I was impressed with the reproduction color. As an artist I get to use this book to study how Thiebaud makes his works "sparkle" by painting one color next to another.

Enlightening!
I own lots of art books, but this is already one of my favorites. I stare and stare at these pictures and marvel at what he has done. The painting is so simple at first glance, and so much more complex and fascinating the longer I look. If you are a painter, there is very much to be learned from these paintings. The phrase "paint lovingly applied" in the editorial review is most apt--and as a result, one loves looking at it. This man is really a PAINTER, an artist who revives one's faith in painting here at the turn of a century that has seen more than its share of charlatans and feeble talents. Everything he paints looks profoundly delicious, and the landscapes and cityscapes from the 80's and 90's are like thrilling dreams. The book is a revelation!

Never See SF the Same Again!
This book has a wonderful collection of his work from the 60's to the present time. His style and view of everyday life is both inspiring and dramatic, sometimes his perspective is unnerving as well. It is a great book for those who love realism and nostalgia, with a twist. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Create a Card to Celebrate
Wayne Thiebaud's whimsical and 'delicious' paintings make a perfect opening statement for these gift cards. I have used them to wish others a happy birthday, to personalize a wedding wish or send congratulations on a graduation. They are wonderful for any celebration of life. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Not just a show catalogue...interview, history and photos
32 brilliant, clear plates sampling 40 years in the career of California artist Wayne Thiebaud. We loved the personality revealed in the interview, subtly teaching and inspiring developing artists. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Arts & Activities, published by Publishers' Development Corporation on November 1, 2004. The length of the article is 836 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Donuts and coffee with Wayne Thiebaud.
Author: Mary Novak-Connair
Publication: Arts & Activities (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2004
Publisher: Publishers' Development Corporation
Volume: 136Issue: 3Page: 36(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Commentary, published by Commentary Magazine on May 1, 2001. The length of the article is 3676 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Fun with Paint.
Author: Steven C. Munson
Publication: Commentary (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2001
Publisher: Commentary Magazine
Volume: 111Issue: 5Page: 52

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A new look at the world!
How is it that his work glows without an ethereal or electrical light source! Perhaps the users' submissions to this book will contain the same inspirational mysteries. ... Read more