Wayne Thiebaud's bright, straightforward stiff life paintings, and particularly those of food, were his first mature works and they rapidly built his reputation in the early 1960s. Since that time, the range of his artistic interests has broadened to include figure studies, landscapes, and cityscapes.
In an insightful interview, Thiebaud discusses his work and his philosophy of art. He is an artist who has thought deeply about his craft and his place in a long tradition of artists. It is a tradition that to him means honest inquiry, painting based in sight as well as mind, and the attempt to be or one's time. He has an overarching approach to the task of being a painter that places high value in lessons learned from those who have gone before. Because of his insight into these lessons, his work rings true -- it strikes us directly with an authenticity and an immediacy that belie the hard work that has gone into each painting.
