It’s a time for celebration for renowned Sacramento artist Wayne Thiebaud, who’s turning 100 years old this year. In honor of his birthday and in continuing the tradition with Crocker Art Museum organizing an exhibition of his work every decade, there will be 100 works spanning from 1947 to 2019, under the show title Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings. As the title suggests, there will be work from every medium and will include pieces from every unique period of Thiebaud’s oeuvre.Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920), Boston Cremes, 1962. Oil on canvas, 14 x 18 in. Crocker Art Museum Purchase, 1964.22. © 2020 Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

“Wayne Thiebaud has a reverence for painting and tradition. His art is deeply felt,” explains Scott Shields, associate director and chief curator for Crocker. “His canvases are some of the most important paintings ever made in California, and they possess an enduring interest, combining nostalgia and optimism, loneliness and isolation.”

In addition to these themes, this collection sheds light on Thiebaud’s many phases and subtleties such as his use of humor, his experience in many different mediums and one of his most popular themes: depicting scenes as they are felt.Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920), Betty Jean Thiebaud and Book, 1965–1969. Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 in. Crocker Art Museum, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Thiebaud, 1969.21. © 2020 Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

Thiebaud began his career with humble beginnings. “He sold pieces out of his station wagon in parking lots and grocery stores and would have shows at the Starlight Drive In Theatre,” Shields explains.

He started with partially abstracted paintings, as he “felt the need to participate in the heydey of abstract expressionism,” says Shields. Eventually, he transitioned to still life work, mostly consisting of food and common objects, like his piece Boston Cremes and the iconic Pies, Pies, Pies. He exhibited these in New York at the Allen Stone Gallery show in 1962.

“He didn’t want to get too locked into still life,” furthers Shields, “so he turned his focus to the human figure and then to landscape.” In the 1970s, Thiebaud’s attention was on the landscape of San Francisco, depicting its steep streets and tall buildings in a style that Shields expertly dictates as “the redefinition of ordinary things or actions though scale, color, space and light.”

Thiebaud’s cityscapes helped him achieve furthered success in the 1990s with his series of bird’s eye views of the San Joaquin Delta River in Sacramento. “He focused on agriculture and these bird’s eye pieces are shown from unique angles, but with an element of believability,” Shields says. This then led Thiebaud to work on a series of hills and then finally, his most recent series of circus clowns from 2019.Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920), Watermelon and Knife, 1989. Pastel on paper, 85⁄8 x 97⁄16 in. Crocker Art Museum, gift of the Artist’s family, 1995.9.30. © 2020 Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920), Street and Shadow, 1982-83/1996. Oil on linen, 353⁄4 x 233⁄4 in. Crocker Art Museum, gift of the Artist’s family, 1996.3. © 2020 Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

“The clowns are standing under a spotlight almost reluctantly,” explains Shields. “This series is almost autobiographical about his place in the artworld at this point in time."

The Crocker Art Museum plans to be open to the public mid-October, but there will be a virtual component as well, with Shields conducting a video tour of the installed show.  The exhibition will be traveling, so make sure to glimpse this iconic event through January 3. —

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