Van [working proof 18]
1988
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color drypoint on wove Somerset paper [working proof 18]
Dimensions
plate: 22.3 × 30.2 cm (8 3/4 × 11 7/8 in.) sheet: 34.6 × 41.1 cm (13 5/8 × 16 3/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
2024.132.705
Art Historical Context
Wayne Thiebaud's *Van [working proof 18]* (1988) is a captivating color drypoint print, showcasing the artist's late-career experimentation with printmaking. Born in 1920, Thiebaud rose to fame in the Pop Art movement of the 1960s for his luminous depictions of everyday American life—think luscious cakes, vibrant landscapes, and mundane objects rendered with a painterly touch. By the 1980s, he turned to print techniques like drypoint, collaborating with master printers at Crown Point Press (reflected in the gift from founder Kathan Brown to the National Gallery of Art). Drypoint involves scra...
About the Artist
Wayne Thiebaud
Wayne Thiebaud, born Morton Wayne Thiebaud on November 15, 1920, in Mesa, Arizona, grew up in a Mormon family in southern California after his parents relocated there shortly after his birth. His father worked various jobs, including as a Ford mechanic and real estate agent. As a teenager, Thiebaud apprenticed one summer at Walt Disney Studios, drawing in-betweens for characters like Goofy and Pin...