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The Sad and Painful Truth of Thiebaud's Art - Page 2

Page 2

Jul 1, 2000

Just to look at his cityscapes makes me dizzy and queasy as if I am in a car moving along those sharply slanting hillside streets. I feel carsick. I remember the truth of driving those streets or riding in that car as it dips and dives through hilly San Francisco. I can't look at these scenes for very long, but I recognize the truth, as did Thiebaud.

I know I wouldn't want to sit for a portrait if Thiebaud were the painter, could never allow myself to be a model for him. It would be too revealing to see myself on canvas as I really am. Painful enough that I see myself in the mirror and privately acknowledge my faults. Better to hide them from others by a smile or continuous motion.

While I admire the skill, talent, and genius of Thiebaud's oeuvre, I don't want to look too closely at it. Thiebaud shows us the modern world as it is. Since it is not really very pretty, I think I would prefer to not acknowledge that truth quite so blatantly or so honestly as he does.

Sources:

Wayne Thiebaud by Karen Tsujimoto, published for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art by the University of Washington Press, Seattle & London, 1985.

http://www.thinker.org/legion/exhibition...

Note: There is currently a traveling exhibition of Thiebaud's art. The present and future venues for the exhibition are as follows:

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth: 24 September 2000 - 14 January 2001

The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.: 10 February - 29 April 2001

The Whitney Museum of American Art: June 28 - September 23, 2001

Another link for Wayne Thiebaud can be found at the National Gallery of Art:

http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/psearch?Reque...

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13. Sep 9, 2001 9:07 PM
In response to message posted by fgreenbe:

How wonderful. I don't believe I have seen much of his art in that style. I'll have to do so ...

-- posted by Tricia_S

12. Sep 9, 2001 7:42 AM
The "food" art is so different from what we own. We have a silk screen print he did in 1958 (2/10) titled "Between Seasons"-----it is best described as French Impressionist in style.....

It has be ...

-- posted by fgreenbe

11. Dec 17, 2000 9:40 AM
In response to message posted by BettyPine:

Betty,

I too think he liked dessert a lot (but then so do I).

I agree his works have ...

-- posted by Tricia_S

10. Dec 16, 2000 10:08 PM
I found that your article made me want to see his paintings..so I followed your link and his work look more like illustrations than painterly art works.

He painted subjects that don't interest me, ...

-- posted by BettyPine

9. Jul 16, 2000 9:07 AM
Pamela,

Norman Rockwell and Wayne Thiebaud - that might be an interesting comparison, particularly if we were to throw in the cultural differences between the decades in which they lived. Thiebaud ...

-- posted by Tricia_S

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