Wayne Thiebaud - Art Comes From Art

"A beautifully produced, authoritative volume."--Kirkus Reviews

Explores Wayne Thiebaud's career as a self-described "thief" who appropriated and reinterpreted old and new European and American artworks.

Although artist Wayne Thiebaud (1920-2021) earned acclaim for his poetic renderings of the prosaic particulars of American life, he openly admitted that "it's hard for me to think of artists who weren't influential on me, because I'm such a blatant thief." Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes from Art features the artist's virtuosic appropriations and reinterpretations of old and new European and American artworks, spanning from Andrea Mantegna to Édouard Manet, Henri Matisse to Richard Diebenkorn, offering crucial insights into his creative process.

Thiebaud's exploration of art, artists, and art history--along with the practices of copying, appropriation, and reinterpretation--allowed him not only to see through the eyes of other artists but also to commune with them through their work, expanding his own vision. This career-long engagement with the concept of appropriation illustrates his perception of art history as an encyclopedic "bureau of standards"--a rich repository and resource that offers working artists community with their predecessors and communion with their artworks.

Published in association with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Exhibition dates:
Legion of Honor: March 22-August 17, 2025

About the author

Timothy Anglin Burgard is Distinguished Senior Curator in Charge of American Art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Product details

• Authors: Timothy Anglin Burgard, Burgard Timothy Anglin
• Assisted by: Burgard Timothy Anglin (Editor)
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 08.04.2025
• EAN: 9780520418325
• ISBN: 978-0-520-41832-5
• No. of pages: 360
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Antiques; USA, ART / Individual Artists / General, 20th Century, ART / History / General, ART / History / Modern (late 19th Century to 1945), ART / History / Contemporary (1945-), ART / American / General, ART / Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions / General, 21st Century, History of art & design styles: c 1800 to c 1900, c 1800 to c 1900, History of Art, History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -, Later 19th century c 1850 to c 1899, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, United States of America, USA, Early 20th century c 1900 to c 1950, Art & design styles: from c 1960, Art & design styles: c 1900 to c 1960, Early 21st century c 2000 to c 2050, c 1945 to c 2000 (Post-war period)