From Deseret News archives:

Still Thiebaud after all these years

Show looks at artist's early works

Published: Sunday, April 13, 2008 1:02 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
SPRINGVILLE - Wayne Thiebaud still has pluck in his brush: At 87, he's been able to maintain a level of spontaneity and risk in his work that other artists would unquestionably envy.

In "Wayne Thiebaud: 70 Years of Painting," at the Springville Museum of Art through July 27, the artist offers an 84-piece, retrospective glance at his early paintings and academic drawings from the 1930s-'50s as well as paintings covering the 1960s through 2007.

Thiebaud (Tee-bo) was born to Mormon parents in 1920 in Mesa, Ariz. His family moved to Long Beach, Calif., when he was 6 months old. Later, during his high school years, Thiebaud apprenticed at the Walt Disney Studio during the summer.

The artist spent part of his youth north of St. George. "From 1929-33 he lived at Thorley Ranch," said Vern Swanson, director of the Springville Museum of Art, "and he still speaks of that time with fondness."

(Because of his time spent in Utah, the museum recently named Thiebaud one of "Utah's Most Honored Living Artists.")

In 1941, Thiebaud earned a degree from Sacramento State College. From 1938-49, he worked as a cartoonist and designer in California, New York and served as an artist in the U.S. Navy.

At 32, Thiebaud earned a master's degree and began teaching art at Sacramento State College in 1952.

Story continues below
Best known for his thickly rendered, iconic still lifes of conventional American products, such as cakes, pies, sandwiches, cosmetics and toys, Thiebaud also applied his trademark bright palette and creamy brushwork to San Francisco cityscapes and Sacramento landscapes, both communicating through shimmering color and conflated perspective.

"He's using multiple points of perspective in these paintings," said Nicole C. Romney, who co-curated the exhibit with Traci A. Fieldsted and Jessica R. Weiss. "You have aerial, linear, atmospheric, even isometric perspective as in 'Ocean City' (2006-07). The painting gives you the feeling that you're rushing through the city in a taxi, going up and down and over and across."

"Fields & Furrows" (2002), a large Sacramento landscape, is the show's most visually successful example of the artist's multipoint outlook: His flawless use of color, line and form, as well as his hallmark "blue shadows," make this exquisite piece a must-see.

In this month's American Art Review, Fieldsted discusses the exhibit: "For Thiebaud, the execution of the applied paint is as important as the subjects he depicts. The tactile surfaces of his more familiar food and confection images that made Thiebaud famous are layered with his signature impasto and bravura."

Recent comments

This visual treat is a must see show. The colorful, playful sensory...

jeanie cousin | April 13, 2008 at 10:44 p.m.

This visual feast is a must see. Take the entire family for a...

jeanie cousin | April 13, 2008 at 10:33 p.m.

Wayne Thiebaud: what is in Utah's culture that its best must leave to...

? | April 13, 2008 at 8:08 p.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

McKay is A-OK in his return

To say that Collie would lobby for the ball? Puuullleeeaaassseee! Collie was...

Water wars in Snake Valley

I agree that pumping the aquifers in nothern nevada or anywhere else is...

What a lovely, extraordinary reminder of important matters. I wonder where I...

TCU moves into 4th place in BCS

The Ute played their worst opponent in some time (years. That is not a good...

House passes health care bill

I give the GOP credit for at least acknowledging we have a problem and for...

The increasing unemployment of democrats will naturally result in an overall...

Hey TCU, you guys got this one in the bag. Don't practice, scheme or prepare...

Anonymous seems to have a bone to pick, the comments about ..."It's not just...

I have never met anyone who pouts naturally - maybe I just haven't met enough...

It is your year South Summit. Go make it happen.

Advertisements
Advertisement