Quick Summary
- Taught at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis for 42 years, including 12 years after retiring
- His legacy transcends 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, to all of California and the world
- New fund supports education, scholarship and hands-on art-making
The death of University of California, Davis, Professor Emeritus Wayne Thiebaud on Dec. 25 brought an outpouring of memories and tributes, critical acclaim for the 补谤迟颈蝉迟鈥檚 remarkable life and career, and news of a significant gift to 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis.
新澳门六合彩内幕信息 DAVIS STATEMENT
- , including comments from Rachel Teagle, founding director of the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, and Annabeth Rosen, co-chair of the Department of Art and Art History.
&苍产蝉辫;鈥淗颈蝉 brilliance, talent, warmth and generosity leave a legacy that will live on and enrich our campus and the world for generations to come,鈥 the university said in a Dec. 26 statement.
Chancellor Gary S. May added: 鈥Wayne Thiebaud had a profound and lasting influence on our university, but his legacy transcends 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis.鈥 Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a , called Thiebaud 鈥渢he pride of California and a great gift to the world.鈥
Thiebaud died at his Sacramento home a month and a half after his 101st birthday, following a year that saw multiple exhibitions of his work, including shows at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis. The Manetti Shrem Museum exhibition, 鈥Wayne Thiebaud Influencer: A New Generation鈥 (June 3-Nov. 12, 2021) explored the longtime art professor鈥檚 profound influence on 19 contemporary artists, including former students, in celebration of his centennial year. That exhibition is available to view in part on the .
Gift continues legacy
Current and future generations of students and scholars will continue to be able to study and draw inspiration from his art. Rachel Teagle, founding director of the Manetti Shrem Museum, announced at the museum鈥檚 annual fundraising gala Nov. 13 a gift of 24 Thiebaud artworks from the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation to the university鈥檚 Fine Arts Collection The foundation works with arts and cultural centers across the world to share 罢丑颈别产补耻诲鈥檚 creations with the public, and is run by 罢丑颈别产补耻诲鈥檚 son, Matt Bult, who serves as president.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan awarded the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation the Margrit Mondavi Arts Medallion at the November event. Bult praised the foundation鈥檚 family roots and stewardship. The award honors the spirit of Margrit Mondavi, the late Napa Valley arts patron who made the museum鈥檚 initial founding gift.
Proceeds from the evening went toward a new established to support the Manetti Shrem Museum鈥檚 education programs and ensure access for future generations.
鈥Keeping education, scholarship and hands-on art-making as the heartbeat of our museum is what the Wayne Thiebaud Legacy Fund is all about,鈥 Teagle said.
In a shown at the event, Thiebaud talked with Teagle about the recent exhibition and the unique dynamic of the fledgling 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis art department he joined in 1960
鈥楶ainter of the everyday鈥
Around the world, obituaries and appreciations lauded the artist whose works connected with so many. dubbed him a 鈥painter of the everyday鈥 whose 鈥渓ush, dreamy landscapes and luminous pictures of hot dogs, deli counters, marching band majorettes and other charmed relics of midcentury Americana were complex meditations on life and painting.鈥
The and T took a more regional perspective, tracing the trajectory of 罢丑颈别产补耻诲鈥檚 career and deep roots in the Sacramento area.
42 YEARS OF TEACHING
Wayne Thiebaud joined the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Department of Art in 1960 and retired in 1990, then continued to teach on an unpaid basis until 2002. During his 42 years at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, his contributions as artist and teacher helped to shape the university.
His awards and honors include:
- Chancellor鈥檚 Lifetime Achievement Award for Innovation (2016)
- 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Medal (2009), the university鈥檚 highest honor
- 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement (1988)
鈥He was recruited away from Sacramento City College to 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis by founding department chair Richard L. Nelson, who stole him away by promising him a roll of canvas as thick as the trunk of a large tree on the campus鈥 grounds,鈥 The Bee wrote.
Family and friends, colleagues and former students posted personal remembrances and favorite Thiebaud works on social media platforms.
罢丑颈别产补耻诲鈥檚 daughter, Twinka, said in remembrance on Facebook: 鈥Master painter, art professor, tennis player, joke teller extraordinaire, beloved husband, father, uncle and friend, Wayne Thiebaud has packed up his brushes in search of new scenery to paint, new canvasses to conquer.鈥
Vonn Cummings Sumner (鈥98, M.F.A. 鈥00), whose comic strip-inspired Krazy Kat works were shown in 鈥淲ayne Thiebaud Influencer: A New Generation,鈥 posted and a tribute to his longtime mentor and friend. The arts blog published a conversation between Sumner and Thiebaud about their shared affection for the Krazy Kat character. It begins with Thiebaud asking, 鈥How did we get into this Krazy business in the first place?鈥
Jeremy Stone, a longtime art advisor, curator and appraiser whose father was New York gallery owner Allan Stone, recounts sitting for a portrait by Thiebaud as a teenager. She did not see the work for 30 years, and had an epiphany while listening to a keynote lecture titled 鈥淭he Delirious Sorrow of Cheerful Things: The Art of Wayne Thiebaud鈥 by Stanford art scholar and professor Alexander Nemerov at the Thiebaud Study Day held in conjunction with the Manetti Shrem Museum鈥檚 2018 Thiebaud exhibition.
鈥He confirmed that my sad little portrait, 鈥楪irl in White鈥 (1975-76), was not unlike the Eakins portrait of Maud Cook that Nemerov showed at the lecture,鈥 Stone wrote in . 鈥溾榊ou are in good company,鈥 he assured me.鈥
In discussing Thiebaud on Capitol Public Radio鈥檚 , Teagle made the point that despite the many awards the art world and other entities had bestowed upon him throughout his career, the contributor note for his frequent New Yorker covers simply read, 鈥淲ayne Thiebaud is a professor emeritus of art at the University of California, Davis.鈥
Media Resources
Additional Tributes:
Related Stories:
- (新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Magazine story and photos celebrating the Wayne 罢丑颈别产补耻诲鈥檚 100th birthday, 2020)
- California Studio program for visiting artists
Media Contacts:
- Laura Compton, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, llcompton@ucdavis.edu
- Karen Nikos-Rose, News and Media Relations, kmnikos@ucdavis.edu