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Artist Wayne Thiebaud, whose paintings colored postwar America's everyday symbols, has died at the age of 101, according to a statement from the University of California (UC) at Davis, where he taught. for more than 40 years.
Known for his vibrant depictions of everyday life - from cakes and tarts to
delicatessen
counters
and dining rooms - the painter passed away on Saturday, according to the statement, without mentioning the cause of his death.
"Wayne Thiebaud had a profound and lasting influence on our university, but his legacy transcends UC Davis," said UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May.
"He was well loved as an artist, teacher, mentor, father, grandfather, philanthropist, and community leader."
"He was a brilliant artist and his work will forever encourage us to see our world in a more textural light, where ordinary objects can ascend to deep and iconic heights."
Wayne Thiebaud's 1963 painting "Cakes" exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 2018. (Credit: Robert Alexander / Getty Images)
Who was Wayne Thiebaud?
Born in Mesa, Arizona, in 1920, Thiebaud grew up in California, where he would spend most of his life.
With no official art training, he worked as a poster painter and an apprentice at Walt Disney Studios before serving in the US Air Force in World War II.
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In the late 1940s, he left commercial art and advertising to study Fine Arts at California State University, Sacramento.
In the following decade, painting normally from memory, he developed a distinctive caramel-colored style, which earned him further commercial recognition in the 1960s.
If Thiebaud's themes were apparently ordinary, his execution was quite the opposite.
Pinball
machines
and delicatessen counters came to life in exaggerated colors;
the icing on their iconic cakes and donuts was rendered in thick, tantalizing brushstrokes.
Although he rose to fame in the pop art era, he distanced himself from the movement.
In fact, although his characteristic use of dark shadows was reminiscent of the advertising posters of the time, the painter's explorations of mass culture were channeled through a warm figurative realism that set himself apart from more satirical contemporaries such as Andy Warhol.
Thiebaud's 1969 oil painting titled "Row of Ties."
(Credit: Album / Zuma Press)
"Painting is a team sport"
Thiebaud also had a long teaching career, teaching Art at Sacramento Junior College before joining UC Davis.
After retiring from academia at age 70, he continued to teach at the latter university as professor emeritus.
"Wayne Thiebaud believed that teaching and learning were the most important activities in life," said Rachel Teagle, founding director of the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis.
"He loved to read, discuss and watch with his students. 'Painting is a team sport,' he liked to say. And for his many, many longtime students, learning with Wayne was a great honor."
In recent years there has been a growing market interest in Thiebaud's art.
In November 2019, the bakery-inspired painting "Encased Cakes" set a new auction record for his work when it sold for more than $ 8.4 million at Sotheby's in New York.
The following year, just months before Thiebaud turned 100, his 1962 painting "Four Pinball Machines" more than doubled that record, fetching more than $ 19.1 million at Christie's auction house.
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"A great gift to the world"
Even in his later years, Thiebaud spent "most of his days in the studio," according to the Acquavella Galleries in New York, which have organized four exhibitions of his work since 2012. In a message of condolences posted on his Instagram account On Sunday, the gallery described him as a "truly extraordinary man."
"An American icon, Wayne led his life with passion and determination, inspired by his love of teaching, tennis and, most of all, making art," the message read.
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Other tributes to the painter arrived Sunday, from the art world and beyond.
In a statement to the media, California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was "deeply saddened" to learn of the artist's death.
"From the gumball machines to the San Francisco landscapes, he transformed everyday life into an iconic statement of color and shape," the statement read, adding: "Wayne Thiebaud was the pride of California and a great gift to the world." .
CNN's Joe Sutton and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.
ArtpaintingWayne Thiebaud