Wayne Thiebaud, Draftsman

Best known for his luscious paintings of pies and ice-cream cones, California artist Wayne Thiebaud (born 1920) has been an avid and prolific draftsman since he began his career as an illustrator and cartoonist. 

Featuring subjects that range from deli counters and isolated figures to dramatic views of San Francisco’s plunging streets, Thiebaud’s drawings invariably endow the most banal, everyday scenes with a sense of poetry and nostalgia. The show is the first to explore the full range of the artist's works on paper, from quick sketches to pastels, watercolors, and charcoal drawings.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.        

Image: Cakes No. 1, 1967, pastel and graphite. Private collection, courtesy of Guggenheim, Asher Associates. © Wayne Thiebaud/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY  

Whether you go or not, Wayne Thiebaud: Draftsman is the first major publication devoted to his lifelong engagement with drawing. Fully illustrated and beautifully designed, its illuminating texts include an extensive interview with the artist. Best known for his luscious paintings of pies and ice-cream cones, American artist Wayne Thiebaud (born 1920) has been an avid and prolific draftsman since he began his career in the 1940s as an illustrator and cartoonist. This book of 116 drawings―compiled with the full cooperation of the artist to accompany the major  exhibition at the Morgan Library Museum―explores the wide range of Thiebaud’s production on paper, including early sketches, luminous pastels, and watercolors, and charcoal drawings made in connection with his teaching. In subjects ranging from deli counters and isolated figures to dramatic views of San Francisco’s plunging streets, Thiebaud’s drawings endow the most banal, everyday scenes with a sense of poetry and nostalgia.

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