To the Courtauld to catch this wonderfully colourful exhibition of mouth-wateringly delicious still lives by American artist Wayne Thiebaud (1920-2021). I was really surprised to learn that this is the first ever museum exhibition dedicated to Thiebaud in the UK. Like myself Thiebaud started out as a commercial artist creating illustrations for various clients. He then went on to make his name as a bona fide artist capturing images of American post-war culture in these iconic paintings of slices of cakes, pies, gumball machines, hot-dogs and candies. These still life paintings fitted in particularly well amongst the Courtauld's permanent collection of Impressionist masterpieces. How apt for the Courtauld that the artist was profoundly influenced in his work by Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882), which can be seen in the next room on leaving the Thiebaud exhibition. The paintings hold their own here because of Thiebaud's masterly handling of paint applied in thin layers as well as gorgeous pastel impastos which perfectly describe the thick layers of sweet icing frosting the cakes and frothy cream topping the pies. Although long associated with the Pop Art movement of the 60s Thiebaud saw his art as being more in the genre of traditional European still life painting and that of artists such as Jean Siméon Chardin, Paul Cézanne and Giorgio Morandi. Thiebaud embraced the physicality of paint and its visceral properties, whereas the Pop artists were concerned with methods of mass production and flat print-like surfaces in their finished artworks. What Thiebaud brought to the still life genre is a sense of the strong light of Sacramento in the West coast of America in the saturated colours he used as well as deep, heightened shadows painted in exaggerated blues and purples. There is also a strong sense of pattern in the layout and deliberate positioning of the foodstuffs and objects in his still lives as well as the surface pattern decorations of the yo-yo's, pinball machines and iced cakes. How wonderful to see his large masterpiece Cakes, 1963, at first-hand on loan from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and other rarer pieces held in private collections. This was another little gem of an exhibition in the 3rd floor Denise Coates gallery space of the Courtauld as many of the previous exhibitions (here, and here) have also proven to be. An added bonus is being able to see some of Thiebaud's graphic works in an exhibition of etchings, prints and drawings on the floor below.
until 18th January 2026
Courtauld Gallery
Somerset House
Strand
London
