Wayne Thiebaud is best known for painting pastry—and not even visually arresting pastry. His pies and cakes just kind of sit there, looking reasonably tasty but not seeming to do much else. He also paints perfectly nice people and landscapes, too. Lots of beach scenes. If you wandered into an exhibit of his work not knowing anything about the guy, his paintings might seem about as interesting as those unsigned prints they sell in big, plastic frames at Ross for 17 bucks each—the stuff that's just supposed to hang unobtrusively on your wall for a few years without clashing with your couch. You could easily picture Thiebaud's work on display in a bank, or printed on the front of the menu at a really nice, outdoor... More >>>