Wayne Thiebaud's Sweet Take on American Art

With his luscious oil paintings in bright, rainbow hues, Wayne Thiebaud (1920–2021) delighted in tricking viewers into thinking they were staring through the display case windows of American diners. Thiebaud may be internationally beloved, but his works are grounded in specificity. As many of his contemporaries moved towards complete abstraction, Thiebaud remained rooted in realism and committed to his subject matter: the United States of the twentieth century. Thiebaud was intrigued by commonplace and ubiquitous experiences, and his paintings display a distinct nostalgia even as they veer away from sentimentality.