More Wayne Thibaud: "This for you is my world to look at"

Where to see more about Wayne Thiebaud

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For me this is a bit of a click and salivate post!  In all honesty written entirely for me - for looking at from time to time - rather than sharing with any of you - but you can look too! ;)

• In an An Eye for Art produced by the National Gallery in Washington - you can read online (or download the pdf file and read later) about he produced his artwork
• The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has a nice collection of works of art by Thiebaud
• Christies provides a nice video of a Studio visit: Wayne Thiebaud - in which he 

discusses drawings versus prints, the audacity of the artist’s vocation — and why he doesn’t believe in ‘the idea of success’

"my work is not showing off, not grandiose, - human things..."

"This for you is my world to look at" - Wayne Thiebaud

• On ArtNet - you can see lots if different works by him - from drawings and paintings to fine art prints (etchings, linocuts and lithographs)
• There are even more on Wayne Thiebaud on Artsy where you can apparently see 291 works of prints, paintings, drawings and works on paper 

Thumbnails of Cakes by Wayne Thiebaud

• Many thanks to Artsy for doing their categorisation of his art. These are 
• the Thiebaud Cakes 
• the Thiebaud Ice Cream - so many different ways to draw a cone!
• The Thiebaud Lollipops
• the Thiebaud Cityscapes - I keep getting echoes of Charles Rennie MackIntosh and the way he drew landscapes with an emphasis on line and quite stylised colour. This one - of "Valley Streets" - is in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• I'd buy one - but I can't afford him - although doubtless my investment would increase in value! 

Though Thiebaud is most often grouped with the Pop art movement for his subject matter, the artist considers himself “just an old fashioned painter,” and “not a card carrying Pop artist.” He remains best known for his still lifes of confections—sometimes painted from his own memories—which he considers interpretations of “Americanness.” In his works, objects and their shadows are characteristically outlined in multiple colors, creating a visual effect Thiebaud calls akin to vibration.

• Wikipedia as per usual provides a useful overview of his life and work. According to one line - 

he apprenticed at Walt Disney Studios drawing "in-betweens" of Goofy, Pinocchio, and Jiminy Cricket at a rate of $14 a week

• but Wikipedia while not deleting this would like a citation! 
• According to the Smithsonian Wayne Thiebaud Is Not a Pop Artist - which is worth a read

In a contemporary art world enthralled with such stunts as Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull, Thiebaud is wonderfully ungimmicky.

I think I like him because 

• he's both ordinary and original, 
• of the optical mixing he does (which I also do), 
• of his strong emphasis on line - which I like a lot, 
• his ability to be figurative and abstract at the same time
• and the fact that when he paints his paint is LUSH! His lush cream pies also sold for $4 million!

There are other affinities? Did I mention I have been known to go round sketching food (and people eating and drinking) - a lot?!

and finally......

Did you know Wayne Thiebaud is 98 years old? (he was born on 15 November 1920!)

Wayne Thiebaud working on etchings (video)

Below is a rather good short video about Wayne Thiebaud working on etchings.  The video was made by the Crown Point Press, based in Hawthorne Street in San Francisco. (They have some impressive clients!)

Worth a watch.

This is the link to the exhibition referenced in the video



I've found more good stuff about Thiebaud online but if I stop to process and organise it nothing will get posted!

Review of a critique of an art society exhibition

What happens when somebody reviews an art society exhibition as if it was a "proper art exhibition" i.e. using the same sort of criteria as might be used for any other sort of art exhibition in the area?

This post is generic in nature - in terms of conclusions - but does take one example to highlight the sort of issues that can arise.

Brea Gallery shows off what the Colored Pencil Society of America can do is a magazine review of the 27th Annual International Exhibition of the Colored Pencil Society of America at the City of Brea Art Gallery, 1 Civic Center, Brea, CA (July 31–September 13, 2019).

It's written by a chap who has written for the Orange County Weekly for the last 8 years as its art critic.

I supposed the best way of summarising his review is he's called it as he sees it.

That's not the way some of colored pencil artists see it who have responded by commenting on his review - worth a read!

They diverge between those that

• welcome a contribution to the ongoing debate about the use of photographs by CP artists
• one lady who is not averse to slinging insults around - not realising that Google picks up on comments as well as websites and that her name is now forever irretrievably associated with her comments!
• some who criticise the reviewer for not understanding the medium of colored pencils. For example.....

Mr Barton, You should be ashamed of yourself, given the ignorant nonsense you’ve written here about this medium, these artists, and art in general, frankly. Did you interview a single artist, or even leaf through a copy of “Colored Pencil” magazine? Your level of ignorance is astounding.

I do remember another CPSA exhibition where the independent Juror did provide feedback afterwards about the show as a whole - and mentioned a lot of aspects highlighted in this review. It didn't go down well that time either. However it does say something about the extent to which coloured pencil artwork has moved on in the last decade or so if the same sort of comments are still being made by independent individuals who have studied the artwork.

Interestingly, some of those who commented got stuck on some of the earlier comments and appear to have completely missed the last paragraph.

For the future, the process of work such as this needs to be demystified. Art historians and critics, including myself, usually do little to shed light on how work is created, focusing mostly on the materials used or the feelings we have when looking at it. Focusing solely on the ideas is a primarily selfish, insular thing satisfying only the person writing about it, when opening up the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears behind the art should be our goal.

Images (in cropped format)
of some of the artworks
winning awards in the exhibition

You can see more photos of the prizewinners on Facebook and more of the pics in the rest of the exhibition on the Brea Gallery Instagram account

A Making A Mark perspective

I'm really not having a go at CPSA or its members in particular here. The issues for me are essentially generic - other than to highlight that it's interesting that some common criticisms from an independent perspective of this type of artwork are still the same as they were more than a decade ago.

My reason for commenting is more about the need for artists to understand that if and when you put your art "out there" - via an exhibition or a website - then

• people will make their own assessment and think what they think 
• sometimes they will say what they think - and 
• sometimes they will maybe even WRITE what they think.

Here's my take on it.

Lucian Freud - new books and exhibitions (Autumn 2019)

More on the famous painter Lucian Freud - this blog post covers

• two books - about his plants and early life
• two book reviews - of the latter
• an article in today's Observer by William Feaver his biographer 
• a talk at The London Library by William Feaver on 24th October, and 
• an exhibition of self-portraits at the Royal Academy of Arts opening 27 October 

In fact a perfect surfeit for Lucian Freud fans!

Lucian Freud Herbarium

Lucian Freud's Herbarium by Giovanni Aloi - Published last week by Prestel

Yesterday I received a copy of Lucian Freud Herbarium from the publishers.

I've long been a HUGE fan of Freud's paintings of plants. The book reveals that's painted a lot more than I've seen and includes some of my absolute favourites - of which more when I review it on my Botanical Art and Artists News blog later this week

UK Book Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Prestel (5 Sept. 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 379138533X
• ISBN-13: 978-3791385334
• Product Dimensions: 25.7 x 2.3 x 31.4 cm

The Lives of Lucian Freud by William Feaver

I've been waiting since Lucian Freud died and the announcement that William Feaver would be publishing his biography for news of the book's publication.

Well it arrived last week - and it's not book but books - with a series title of The Lives of Lucian Freud. The subtitle for this first volume changes between the UK and the USA. In the UK it's called "Youth" and in the USA, I think they reflected on the fact it takes him up to the age of 50(!) and they've sub-titled it "The Restless Years".

We now have the first edition of what is obviously going to be a work of multiple volumes - and I have an addition to my birthday present list for "he who must not be bored".

Here are two reviews of the book:

UK Cover

• The Lives of Lucian Freud by William Feaver review – youth: 1922-1968 | The Guardian
• The Lives of Lucian Freud: Youth by William Feaver, review: a gossipy guide to the artist's wild years | The Telegraph (5 stars)

I've not seen it, I can't tell you anything about it - but do know that it's:

• based on very many discussions between Lucian Freud and William Feaver (on most days) since 
• full of the "voice of Freud" - which is unsurprising given the tale of how he gathered his material - revealed in the article below.

BUY THIS BOOK (UK)  The Lives of Lucian Freud Youth from Amazon UK:

UK Book Details

• Hardcover: 704 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (5 Sept. 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1408850931
• ISBN-13: 978-1408850930
• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 6.6 x 24.1 cm

USA Cover

ORDER THIS BOOK (USA): The Lives of Lucian Freud: The Restless Years, 1922-1968 from Amazon.com

USA Book Details

• Hardcover
• Pages: 704 Pages 
• Product Dimensions:  6-1/4" x 9-1/4"
• ISBN 9780525657521
• Published by Knopf / Penguin Random House
• Publication date: Oct 29, 2019
• Price: $40.00

UPDATE: After finishing and publishing the blog post I learned (from the FT) that there is also a THIRD new book - of photographs of Lucian Freud - due to be published next week titled Lucian Freud: A Life Edited by Mark Holborn and David Dawson.

There's a great article about it on the FT - Looking at Lucian Freud: photographic portraits of the artist - with LOTS of photos!

Book Details

• Lucian Freud: A Life - ORDER/BUY from Amazon UK | from Amazon.com
• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press; 1 edition (12 Sept. 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714877530
• ISBN-13: 978-0714877532
• Product Dimensions: 28.4 x 3.6 x 36.3 cm
• Price: £150 | $200

Article by William Feaver (his biographer)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: ‘I was Lucian Freud’s spare pair of eyes’ by William Feaver  | The Observer 8 September 2019

This is an absolutely fascinating article which tells the story of how Feaver first met Freud and how come he's writing his "authorised" biography - in the sense that he was banned by Freud of publishing anything in his lifetime - but could do after he was dead.

I guess it is also something of a taster for the first volume of Feaver's biography of Freud which was published last week.

I've saved it for reading again and referencing it in the future.

William Feaver on the Lives of Lucian Freud

Based on the above article, I've also just booked my ticket for the talk by William Feaver at the London Library on 24th October (6.45pm - to 8.30pm)

Check out Eventbrite for more details
William Feaver on the Lives of Lucian Freud 
Date: Thu, 24 October 2019
Time: 18:45 – 20:30 BST
Location: The London Library, 14 Saint James's Square, London SW1Y 4LG

Non-members are £15 per ticket

Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits

This autumn there is an exhibition of self portraits by Lucian Freud at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Crop of "Self Portrait, Reflection" (2002) Lucian Freud

I have on my iMac a wonderful folder full of the photos I took at the press preview for the retrospective exhibition of portraits by Lucian Freud at the National Portrait Gallery in 2012.

As an exhibition it had the major advantage of:

• having been organised in close collaboration with the late Lucian Freud (these sort of exhibitions take years to come to fruition) 
• focusing on paintings of the artist's lovers, friends and family, referred to by Freud as the 'people in my life' - as well as self-portraits
• including 130 works from museums and private collections throughout the world, some of which have never been seen before.

It was an amazing exhibition - and one which has remained inside my memory.

Hence I'm rather puzzled as to why the Royal Academy of Arts is hosting a second exhibition - within 7 years of the first.

However I do suppose its focus on his self-portraits does provide some sort of justification.....

When asked if he was a good model for himself Freud replied, “No, I don’t accept the information that I get when I look at myself, that’s where the trouble starts”.

.....were it not for the view of Lucian Freud that all or most of his paintings were, in effect, autobiographical

'My work was purely autobiographical. It is about myself and my surroundings. It is an attempt at a record. I work from people that interest me and that I care about, in rooms that I live in and know.'

Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits is at the Royal Academy, London, 27 October to 26 January 2020

Interestingly if you put "Lucian Freud portraits" into Google, the NPG microsite for their exhibition (see above link) outranks the RA Exhibitions microsite!

The world record mass paintout in Cornwall

Last Sunday over 1,000 plein air painters turned up to form an almost continuous line of painters on the Cornish coastline between Land's End and Sennen.

It looks like it was an AMAZING event!

The Line of Plein Air Painters from Land's End to Sennen in Cornwall

Courtesy of Anthony Garratt

It was the first ever mass plein air painting event in the UK organised by the Art For Good initiative pioneered by Anthony Garratt with Newlyn School of Art.

The Art for Good initiative is a new series of mass painting installations for environmental causes

Hence the painters were also aiming to raise money to preserve National Trust footpath between Land’s End and Sennen in Cornwall from erosion (due to the number of visitors to the area).

All participants will stand an equal distance apart and the reverse of their painting panels will be painted pink so that from an aerial perspective, they form a continuous dotted line when held above the participants heads; the denotation of a footpath on an OS Map

They certainly succeeded in raising the profile of both the path and the event as it got covered by the BBC News on Sunday where there was some splendid video of all the painters.

This footage is hard to believe - do watch - my jaw DROPPED (and I'd already seen some footage of the event on the BBC News)



I've taken the liberty of scouring Facebook for photos which could be embedded of the event, the artists and the paintings they produced and have included links to every Facebook account or Page beneath the image.

Some of the artists and their paintings

Now for pics of some of the artists - and their paintings!  They look great!