Wayne Thiebaud
American Pop Art
Pop Art
What is Pop Art?
Pop Art is short for "popular art." Artists would use popular things during the time as subjects for their artwork. It is inspired by things like comic strips, advertising, household items, and celebrities. The color of the artwork is often very bold and exciting. Pop Art is meant to be fun.
When was the Pop Art movement?
Pop Art began in the 1950s, but became very popular in the 1960s. It started in the United Kingdom, but became a true art movement in New York City with artists like Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and Wayne Thiebaud.
What are the characteristics of Pop Art?
Pop Art uses images and icons that are popular in the modern world. This includes famous celebrities like movie stars and rock stars, commercial items like soup cans and soft drinks, comic books, and any other items that are popular at the time. There are a number of ways that artists use these items to create art such as repeating the item over and over again, changing the color or texture of the item, and putting different items together to make a picture. Some artists also used commercial printing techniques to create several copies of their art.
Wayne Thiebaud
Wayne Thiebaud (whose name is pronounced TEE-Bow) is an American painter. He was born in Arizona in 1920 and is still living. He began his art career as a cartoonist for Walt Disney and comic strip writer, while serving in the U.S. military. He also worked as a college professor and continued to teach students for nearly 20 years.
While he was serving in the military, Thiebaud spent time in New York and began painting the pastries and other “American” food that he would become known for. He was very interested in creating realistic paintings. He did this by using thick paint in exaggerated colors. When he painted cakes, for example, he applied the paint like a baker would spread frosting. The food in his paintings looks real enough to eat!
Thiebaud is most often grouped in with the “Pop Artists” because he painted subjects from popular culture (like cakes, gumball machines, and ice cream sundaes). Thiebaud painted other subjects, but it is the delicious looking foods that are his best known pieces.