Wayne Thiebaud : American Still Life

Surprising exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery focusing on Wayne Thiebaud.

I say surprising because if you only know these calm, pastel images from reproduction you assume they have a smooth finish but, in reality, the objects are almost sculptured in low relief paint. They are more complex that you think. The show included some early pieces which were darker in colour with loose brushwork.

The images tend to be of displays of food, often in shop windows, or nostalgic trappings of sweet shops. They have a distinctively American feel even when the objects shown might have come from anywhere. A number of people around me were saying how they had a feel of a Hopper in their sense of nostalgia but also strangely loneliness.

I think my favourite was the large picture of cakes and I had to go to the café and indulge after my visit.

Closed 18 January 2026


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