Wayne Thiebaud

1920 Born Messa, Arizona, United States of America

1938 Attends Frank Wiggans Trade School, Los Angeles

1939–49 Works as freelance cartoonist

1949 Receives commendation at Artists under 33, Los Angeles Art Association

1950 Designs sets for The Heiress, California State University, Sacramento

1951Completes Bachelor of Arts, California State University, Sacramento First solo exhibition, Influences on a young painter, EB Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento

1951–60 Teaches Art, Art Appreciation, Art History, Film Making, Television Production at Sacramento City College, California

1953 Completes Master of Arts, California State University, Sacramento

1954 Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud, Gump’s Gallery, San Francisco

1958 Wins Osburn Cunningham Award for SMUD Building, Sacramento

1960–76 Works as Professor of Art, University of California, Davis

1962 Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud, Allan Stone Gallery, New York. Wins University of California Faculty Fellowship. Included in exhibition, The new realists, Sidney Janis Gallery, New York

1964–65 Receives research grant at University of California Research Institute

1965 Solo exhibition, Figures: Wayne Thiebaud, Stanford University Art Gallery, California

1967 Included in Environments USA 1957-1967, Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil

1968 Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: artist in mid career, Pasadena Art Museum, Los Angeles. Receives commission for Wimbeldon Tennis Tournament, London, England. Completes edition of lithographs Suckers State I and Suckers State II, at Gemini GEL, Los Angeles, California

1969 Included in exhibition, Kompas 4-West Coast USA, Stedlijk van Abbemuseum, The Netherlands

1971 Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: Graphics: 1964-1971, Whitney Museum for American Art, New York

1972 Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: survey of painting 1950-1972, originating at California State University Long Beach Art Galleries, Los Angeles; included in Documenta 5, Kassel, West Germany

1976 Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: survey 1946-1976, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona; included in exhibition, 30 years of American printmaking, Brooklyn Museum, New York

1977 Included in travelling exhibition, Representations of America, Alexander Pushkin Museum, Moscow, USSR

1979 Included in travelling exhibition, Documents, drawings, collages, originating at Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts,

1981 Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: painting, originating at Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis; included in exhibition, Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Contemporary American Realism, originating at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia

1982 Travelling solo exhibitions, Wayne Thiebaud: prints, originating at Gallery Hiro, Tokyo

1983 Included in exhibitions, American Artist as Printmaker, The Brooklyn Art Museum, New York, World Print Four, originating at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California. Travels to Japan to work with traditional Japanese woodblock printers

1985 Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud, organised by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California

1988 Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: works on paper 1947-1987, organised by the Richard L. Nelson Gallery, University of California, Davis

1990 Solo exhibition, Thiebaud at Seventy: a retrospective selection of paintings, drawings, watercolous, and prints including new work, Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, California

1993 Receives Grumbacher Gold Medallion Award for Painting from the American Academy of Design, New York

1994 Receives National Medal for the Arts from President Clinton

2000 Travelling solo exhibition, A paintings retrospective, organised by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California. Receives medal for Painting from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, New York

2003 Travelling solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: works from 1955-2003, originating at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, California

2005 Solo exhibitions, Wayne Thiebaud since 1962, Allan Stone Gallery, New York; Wayne Thiebaud: works on paper 1960-2000, South Dakota Museum, South Dakota

2007 Travelling retrospective, Wayne Thiebaud: 70 years of painting, originating at Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California; solo exhibitions: Wayne Thiebaud: hand coloured prints and monotypes, at Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, California; Wayne Thiebaud: recent work, at Paul Thiebaud Gallery, New York City

2008 Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: the figure, at Allan Stone Gallery, New York City

2009 Solo exhibitions: Wayne Thiebaud: confection memories, at Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, California; Sweets & treats: Wayne Thiebaud in the collection of the Norton Simon Museum, at Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, California; Wayne Thiebaud, at Faggionato Fine Arts, London, England; Wayne Thiebaud: works on paper, at Sacramento State University Library Gallery, Sacramento, California

2010 Retrospective, Wayne Thiebaud: homecoming, at Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California; solo exhibitions: Wayne Thiebaud: charcoal still lifes 1964 – 1974, at Lawrence Markey, San Antonio, Texas; Wayne Thiebaud: mountains, at Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico; inducted into the California Hall of Fame

2011 Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud at Museo Morandi, at Istituzione Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

2012 Retrospective, Wayne Thiebaud: a retrospective, at Acquavella Galleries, New York City

2013 Solo exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: memory mountains, at Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, California; receives California Art Award. Wayne Thiebaud currently lives and works in Sacramento, California.

2021 Wayne Thiebaud died in Sacramento, California

© Tyler Graphics Ltd., revised Kate Buckingham, 2007; revised Julia Greenstreet, 2013

This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.