Wayne Thiebaud at the Dixon

Wayne Thiebaud - Self Portrait 4 Hour Study

I took my first oil painting class in 2017. My instructor was Karen Appleton and one of our first assignments was to interpret a black and white version of a Thiebaud painting. I’d never heard of Wayne Thiebaud before, had never seen his work, so fortunately I did not have any preconceived notions when she handed out the black and white print out of his painting.

Black & White version of Thiebaud cupcakes

Karen told us to copy the painting using any colors we wanted - go crazy, she told us. I don’t think my brain could really imagine cupcakes in funky colors, so I went with a pretty traditional interpretation. It looks like I used my palette knife quite a bit, too.

My interpretation of Thiebaud’s cupcakes

I *love* this exercise because it’s a value study in disguise. I could tell from the tones of gray that the one on the left was lighter than the one in the middle and the one in the middle was lighter than the one on the right. But I completely underestimated the colors we would find in the shadows. It also makes me laugh when I see those black circles I painted on the cupcake liners. Obviously, I had a lot to learn :)

Color version of Thiebaud cupcakes

A couple of years later I took a workshop and heard the instructor say, “It doesn’t matter what color you use as long as the value is correct.” And that’s exactly what’s happening with Thiebaud. You know these are cupcakes because it’s drawn correctly, conventionally, accurately. So it doesn’t really matter what color the frosting is, as long as the value is correct. And every art teacher worth their salt will tell you that there is *always* color in shadow. Even in a cool shadow you’ll frequently find a hint of warmth. 

But the bottom line is that this exercise made me not only fall in love with Thiebaud’s work, it made me fall in love with oil painting and color.

So when I discovered there would be a Thiebaud retrospective at the Dixon Gallery in Memphis, I knew I had to go. This is going to be a long post, so buckle your seat belts.

There are 100 works of art on view in the exhibition, a nod to the artist’s recent 100 birthday. Thiebaud was born November 15th, just 4 days (and 46 years) before my birthday. The exhibition features works of all kinds - landscapes, an abstract, portraits, still lifes, oil paintings, watercolor, acrylic, drawings, etchings, charcoal, etc. He is a masterful self-taught artist who can draw and or paint just about anything. 

From something as technical as a small graphite violin drawing to as complex as a giant double portrait …

From a wheel of cheese …

To sketches of Clement Greenberg and Hans Hofmann and candy apples.

Of course, texture plays a huge part in his paintings. But I also noticed the absence of texture, and that’s usually in the shadows. Note the shadow on the left side of the bowl of egg salad.

The placards near the art said that Thiebaud whipped his paint until it had the consistency of icing or frosting so that he was essentially frosting slices of pies with his paint and brush:

And how about those flicks of red??? 

I love seeing the outlines or halos around his subjects. I’ve always been so concerned about my brush strokes showing around objects I paint. Now I’m thinking I shouldn’t worry so much.

I also noticed them around the figures … 

This is the kind of thing that you’ll never fully understand unless you view a work of art in person, up close. Do you think Thiebaud changed the position of the figure’s head in the painting above? I do.

Here’s another example … look at the area below the right ear.

And look at the amazing array of colors Thiebaud found in the subject’s shoes!

I remember seeing a shoe painting from Thiebaud when I was in Karen’s painting class and it inspired me to paint quite a few pairs of shoes including these two of my husband’s shoes. Can you see the influence? 

I was blown away by his 4 hour self portrait, which he calls a “study.” I don’t know about you, but when I think of a “study” it’s a lot less polished than this:

Especially if you compare it to one of his early self portraits … (by the way, what’s happening with that ear???)

Another thing I loved about the show was noticing that in many instances Thiebaud signed his paintings with a little heart next to his name:

One of the things I’ve been struggling with is how to sign my paintings. I’ve been signing en verso (on the back) because I haven’t really figured out how to do the signature in oil paint on the front. It’s not easy!! Scratching/etching it out looks so much easier! I think I may have to steal this idea.

Another thing I noticed was that in several instances the canvas was buckling at the corners. This happens to me on some wrapped canvases which is why I’ve been painting on panels so much lately.

I also noticed that he often went back to paintings and repainted them, worked on them, sometimes more than once:

I was excited to see his sardines:

Because I copied one of his sardine paintings back in 2017:

My version of a Thiebaud sardine painting

I also enjoyed his sunglasses …

Because I, too, painted a pair of sunglasses during my first class with Karen:

But without a doubt, one of my very favorites in the show was this one:

I love the way the composition is cropped so that you can see just a hint of the letter box on the left. I love the signature blue shadows, especially the one underneath the top envelope’s flap. I love the big shapes and leading lines. I love that something as simple and common as an inbox (something I hated seeing full when I was in the corporate world) is now an exquisite work of art. 

That’s really the message isn’t it? That’s the genius of Thiebaud … turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Thank you for the inspiration, sir. I just wish I could have taken a class from him!! And of course, thanks to my great friend and instructor, Karen! She is also an inspiration and an extremely talented artist. 

I’ll close with a few more of my favorites from the exhibition: