l l e A Wosed p m o C Life AS HE TURNS 100 YEARS OLD, WAYNE THIEBAUD CONTINUES HIS PAINTERLY REINVENTION OF TRADITIONAL FORMS. BY MARCUS CROWDER
“I’m one of the lucky ones,”
Wayne Thiebaud says as he first comes on the phone. The icon of late 20th century modern art could be referring to several things. He turns 100 years old on Nov. 15, so there’s that. He goes to his Sacramento studio nearly every day. It’s his favorite thing to do. Once there, he paints or sketches—often both for as long as he wants. To mark his centennial, the Crocker Art Museum has assembled a 100-work, career-spanning retrospective, “Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints and Drawings,” with pieces from the museum’s collection and many rare or never-before-seen works donated by the Thiebaud family. The exhibit runs through Jan. 3, 2021. Concurrently, Laguna Art Museum will host an exhibit of newer works: “Wayne Thiebaud: Clowns,” which debuted in San Francisco at Paul Thiebaud Gallery last year. This exhibit contains more than 40 paintings, drawings and etchings made during the past five years. Finally, the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis will open “Wayne Thiebaud Influencer: A New Generation” on Jan. 31, 2021. This group exhibition pairs Thiebaud works with ones by contemporary artists and former students. While Thiebaud has long been highly regarded around the world, somehow his oeuvre still gains appreciation from collectors and scholars. Wayne Thiebaud has much to be thankful for. Luck has nothing to do with it.
Wayne Thiebaud at his Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition in 2001
48
SACRAMENTO MAGAZINE November 2020