Apartment Hill

In Apartment Hill, Thiebaud unifies the composition by varying his palette only slightly from one area to another. Delighting in the physical qualities of the painting, he depicts the hillside, high-rise buildings and freeway in broad strokes of dark blue, purple, green and orange. Using this approach, he creates an image that is clearly based in reality, but has undergone adjustments in favor of flat abstract pattern.

Wayne Thiebaud’s portrayals of familiar objects have linked him to Pop Art, although he describes himself as traditional painter interested in realism. Apartment Hill is far from a literal description, however, Thiebaud expands the limits of realism by adjusting color and perspective and by emphasizing abstract passages.