The late Wayne Thiebaud, who passed away on Christmas Day last year at age 101, was a formidable force in the mid-century Bay Area Figurative Movement.
Special to The Examiner
Around 30 of Thiebaud’s works are on view in a memorial exhibition at Berggruen Gallery, titled “♡ Wayne Thiebaud” after the painter’s signature, which usually includes a heart before his scrawled name. The show is as much a celebration of Thiebaud’s legacy as it is of his relationship with the gallery, which has shown his work regularly since 1973, and features many pieces from the Berggruen’s family collection.
But note the 11-year span in which “Cherry Tarts” were painted. It’s impossible the tarts stayed fresh all that time, and Thiebaud’s renderings are too visceral to be rendered from a photograph.