“I love doing prints,” Wayne Thiebaud (1920-2021) declared in a conversation at the National Gallery of Art in 1997. A committed printmaker, Thiebaud’s forays into the medium spanned a range of techniques but he first learned to print lithographs as a student at San Jose State University and was immediately captivated by the medium. His graphic work evolved in conjunction with his painting, with the technical difficulties of the medium providing opportunities for him to reexamine and accentuate specific pictorial details.
This lithograph from 1990, Bow Ties is infused with quintessentially American nostalgia. Thiebaud frequently returned to arrangements of ties and bow ties—menswear accessories that were fashion emblems of post-war America. The visual rhythm of the rows invokes a department store display, reflecting the rise of consumer culture in that era, while the seemingly ordinary subject matter is elevated into a dynamic composition by the subtle variations in shading and tonal values that capture the folds and creases of each bow tie.
Impressions from this edition are held in prominent museum collections, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento.
Courtesy of Susan Sheehan Gallery, New York.