The Rebellious Curator

Painting by Wayne Thiebaud

Thiebaud was associated with the Pop Art Movement of the 50's and 60's because of his interest in objects of mass culture. He used heavily saturated pigments and well-defined shadows which predate the classic Pop Artists, suggesting he may have influenced the movement. Interestingly, he was not a fan of Andy Warhol, and characterized Warhol's work as flat and "mechanical". 

As a young man, Thiebaud worked in cinema in Los Angeles, then enrolled at San Jose State University where he earned a Bachelor's degree and a Master's. He taught at UC Davis, where he was known to focus on traditional disciplines, as opposed to conceptual art. During a stay in New York, he became friends with Abstract Expressionist artists de kooning, Kline and Rauschenberg, and began a series of paintings based on common food items. 

Thiebaud's son Paul became a well-respected curator and art dealer with galleries in Manhattan and San Francisco.