Art of the Mundane
Though well known in the US, this is the first UK exhibition to shine light on this modern artist
Preview by Rupert Watkins
The Sims Reed Gallery in St James’s is hosting an exhibition on the American painter Wayne Thiebaud. Closely associated with Pop Art (though he disliked the term), the painter is known for his focus on mundane everyday objects – still life displays of lipsticks and paint cans – though his range of art stretched into landscapes and figure painting. Using strong pigments, exaggerated shadow and colour to bring life to his pictures, this approach allows Thiebaud to return to the same subject again and again over time with a different emphasis and thus result.
A similar rigid and exaggerated approach is shown in his figure painting with detail starkly illuminated. His landscapes and streetscapes are also frequently influenced by the banal complexity of everyday modern life – bluntly colourful, the landscapes emphasise the loneliness of modern America seemingly to deliberately isolate the viewer.
From 1961, Thiebaud was friends with the art dealer, the late Alan Stone and many of the displayed works come from Stone. Well known and respected in America, parts of Thiebaud’s work have been compared to Edward Hopper but in the UK and Europe, Thiebaud is far less recognised as a skilful painter and printmaker.
This is a selling exhibition with none of the pieces having been seen in the UK before. Prices range from £4.500 through to £200,000. The exhibition runs from September 15th to October 9th. 
Enquiries: Sims Reed Gallery, 30 Bury Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6AU; 0207 930 5111; [email protected] / http://gallery.simsreed.com/exhibitions/