Famous for his images of popular consumer items, Wayne Thiebaud, born 1920, pursued a range of creative occupations before enrolling in postgraduate study at Sacramento State College at the age of 30. Prior to this artistic training he worked as a cartoonist and graphic designer, an artist in the US Navy, an apprentice in the Walt Disney Studios and even in the food industry—all of which are reflected in his apparently ironic interest in commonplace subject matter. Thiebaud was included in the seminal 1962 Pop Art exhibition New painting of common objects at Pasadena Art Museum, alongside Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and others.

The artist first took up printmaking in 1964, and the 1968 prints in the National Gallery’s Kenneth Tyler Collection are typical of his strong, repetitive compositions and fascination with familiar, everyday objects. Wayne Thiebaud has remained active in the arts community throughout his career, as a mentor, teacher and member of various artists’ cooperatives.
Gwen Horsfield

Chronology
 

1920
Born Messa, Arizona, United States of America

1938
Attends Frank Wiggans Trade School, Los Angeles

1939-49
Works as freelance cartoonist

1949
Receives commendation at Artists under 33, Los Angeles Art Association

1950
Designs sets for The Heiress, California State University, Sacramento

1951
Completes Bachelor of Arts, California State University, Sacramento First solo exhibition, Influences on a young painter, EB Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento

1951-60
Teaches Art, Art Appreciation, Art History, Film Making, Television Production at Sacramento City College, California

1953
Completes Master of Arts, California State University, Sacramento

1954
Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud, Gump’s Gallery, San Francisco

1958
Wins Osburn Cunningham Award for SMUD Building, Sacramento

1960-76
Works as Professor of Art, University of California, Davis

1962
Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud, Allan Stone Gallery, New YorkWins University of California Faculty FellowshipIncluded in exhibition, The new realists, Sidney Janis Gallery, New York

1964-65
Receives research grant at University of California Research Institute

1965
Solo exhibition, Figures: Wayne Thiebaud, Stanford University Art Gallery, California

1967
Included in Environments USA 1957-1967, Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil

1968
Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: artist in mid career, Pasadena Art Museum, Los AngelesReceives commission for Wimbeldon Tennis Tournament, London, EnglandCompletes edition of lithographs Suckers State I and Suckers State II, at Gemini GEL, Los Angeles, California

1969
Included in exhibition, Kompas 4-West Coast USA, Stedlijk van Abbemuseum, The Netherlands

1971
Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: Graphics: 1964-1971, Whitney Museum for American Art, New York

1972
Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: survey of painting 1950-1972, originating at California State University Long Beach Art Galleries, Los Angeles; included in Documenta 5, Kassel, West Germany

1976
Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: survey 1946-1976, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona; included in exhibition, 30 years of American printmaking, Brooklyn Museum, New York

1977
Included in travelling exhibition, Representations of America, Alexander Pushkin Museum, Moscow, USSR

1979
Included in travelling exhibition, Documents, drawings, collages, originating at Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts,

1981
Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: painting, originating at Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis; included in exhibition, Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Contemporary American Realism, originating at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia

1982
Travelling solo exhibitions, Wayne Thiebaud: prints, originating at Gallery Hiro, Tokyo

1983
Included in exhibitions, American Artist as Printmaker, The Brooklyn Art Museum, New York, World Print Four, originating at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CaliforniaTravels to Japan to work with traditional Japanese woodblock printers

1985
Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud, organised by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California

1988
Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: works on paper 1947-1987, organised by the Richard L. Nelson Gallery, University of California, Davis

1990
Solo exhibition, Thiebaud at Seventy: a retrospective selection of paintings, drawings, watercolous, and prints including new work, Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, California

1993
Receives Grumbacher Gold Medallion Award for Painting from the American Academy of Design, New York

1994
Receives National Medal for the Arts from President Clinton

2000
Travelling solo exhibition, A paintings retrospective, organised by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, CaliforniaReceives medal for Painting from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, New York

2003
Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: works from 1955-2003, originating at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, California

2005
Solo exhibitions, Wayne Thiebaud since 1962, Allan Stone Gallery, New York; Wayne Thiebaud: works on paper 1960-2000, South Dakota Museum, South Dakota

© Tyler Graphics Ltd., revised Kate Buckingham, 2007
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.

Further information will be added to this site as the National Gallery proceeds with its research and documentation.

Last updated May 2013