Art

Wayne Thiebaud, still life made in the USA

The exhibition 'American Still Life' is on view at the Courtauld Gallery in London until 18 January

by Nicol Degli Innocenti

27 December 2025

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Wayne Thibaud has been called the American Giorgio Morandi and visiting the first exhibition dedicated to him in Great Britain, at the Courtauld Gallery, one understands why: although the subjects and colours chosen by the Californian artist are quite different from those of the Bolognese painter, both redefined still life, giving new importance, value and content to everyday objects.

Thiebaud, born in 1920, is often associated with Pop Art, but he actually created a unique style to express his vision of post-World War II US culture. Typical American shops and objects - pinball machines, hot dogs, frosted doughnuts, multicoloured candies, chewing gum - become the absolute protagonists of paintings full of life and energy, with sharp images and vivid colours.

Thiebaud, la natura morta american style
Photogallery9 foto

Goods and objects of everyday life as symbols of US culture

"Every era produces its own still life," said Thiebaud, who as a keen student of art history was keenly aware of the traditions of the past and determined to create his own narrative to reflect his time. In the 1960s, at the height of American consumerism, the artist elevated commodities and objects of everyday life to symbols of US culture, without judging but rather giving them great dignity.

The beauty of the paintings invites the viewer to enter for a moment into the world the artist depicts - you don't need stars and stripes flags to say American, just a lemon meringue pie, a bowl of corn flakes, the tables of a diner or a counter with a row of hot dogs on display.

Thiebaud's style is crisp and precise, the result of his work as an illustrator, graphic designer and also cartoonist and cartoonist for Walt Disney, but the simplicity of the works is only apparent: as in Morandi's still lifes, which the American artist greatly admired, there is a whole world to discover and a thousand reflections to be made in and behind the images.

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The artist called his pictures 'vedute', using the Italian term, to emphasise their poetry. He considered himself heir to artists such as Jean-Siméon Chardin and Edouard Manet, who had painted everyday life. And he attached great importance to the shapes of objects, like Paul Cézanne: the precise triangle of a slice of cake, the perfect roundness of a yo-yo, the geometry of an ice cream cone.

There is a palpable sense of desolation and isolation in Thiebaud's paintings, emphasised by the total absence of human beings. The row of chewing-gum dispensers seems on the surface to be a symbol of the conquered prosperity and freedom of choice of 1960s America: but on closer inspection, the release lever is missing, so the colourful sweets will always remain out of reach. The much-vaunted American dream is unattainable for most.

he first solo exhibition by Thiebaud in 1962 in New York was an immediate success and catapulted him into the American art stratosphere. His paintings were bought by the Museum of Modern Art and major collectors and included in Pop Art exhibitions.

Despite his past as an illustrator, Thiebaud however never felt part of the movement led by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein because he felt too much like a 'painter' in the more traditional sense of the word. Instead of reproducing images like Warhol, for him the role of the artist was to use the brush to create something new, original and unrepeatable on each canvas.

Wayne Thiebaud, American Still Life, London, The Courtauld Gallery, until 18 January 2026

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