Some Thiebaud you may not know

Sacramento-area artist Wayne Thiebaud is well known for his vibrant pop art and masterful landscape paintings. Sixty years ago, in 1951, Thiebaud held his first one-artist exhibition, "Influences on a Young Painter" at the Crocker Art Museum. Last fall, the Crocker featured him again in their inaugural re-opening. You may also recall I've mentioned him before in a previous post on mid-century modernists in Sacramento.

In the interest of educating people about mid-20th century art, architecture and design in the Sacramento region, I'm posting some examples of Thiebaud's works in other mediums.

From my Flickr photostream

First, a delightful kinetic water sculpture/installation in collaboration with Jerry McLaughlin from 1952 which was on display at the California State Fair. The installation was featured in the prestigious Arts & Architecture magazine in November 1952:

"This fountain which was done as a part of the Art Exhibit at the California State Fair is an amusing and often rather wild composition in moving water. While its several parts are in motion there is a constantly maintained interest, and within the interplay dazzling confusion becomes part of a very engaging pattern and texture. The devices which are ingenious in material and form take on a lively life and vitality under the compelling movement of the water. The variety and the unexpectedness of the activity, the sometimes frantic, sometimes serene water in motion is fresh and cool and stimulating.

Thiebaud and McLaughlin have freely and playfully used the propelling water itself to move the objects, and in turn this movement within the water creates a beautiful and sometimes hilarious experience."

Next, a series of art education films featuring Mr. Stubby Pencil. These circa 1955 films featured animation by Wayne Thiebaud, Patty Thiebaud and Pat Dullanty. The Academic Film Archive of North America apparently has a copy of one of a handful of short films that they produced.

From the Sacramento Bee: June 9, 1955

The 16 millimeter films, made over hundreds of hours in the Thiebaud's basement on Portola Way, were produced by Bailey Films, Inc. of Hollywood. Two of the films reportedly premiered in the Long Beach Film Festival. How I would love to see these films!

SMUD HQ Building mosaic, "Water City" by Wayne Thiebaud

Finally, here is "Water City" -- a glass mosaic that wraps around the first level of the SMUD Headquarters Building in Sacramento. This piece was originally a serigraph in 1957 that served as a study for the Sacramento Municipal Water Utility Department (SMUD) mural (and a demonstration serigraph at the California State Fair). The SMUD Headquarters building, designed by Dreyfuss & Blackford, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hope you found these images of Thiebaud's lesser known works as interesting as I do! For more images, visit my Flickr set. I'll continue to add to the set as I come across other items.

SMUD HQ nominated for National Register of Historic Places

SMUD HQ at night via Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects website

Through the efforts of SOCA (Sacramento Old City Association) the SMUD Headquarters building has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.  Local architectural historian Carol Roland conducted research and wrote the nomination, which is pending approval by the National Park Service. Roland believes the building is "strongly influenced by the work of Mies van der Rohe and the International sub-style of Modernism."

The architectural firm of Dreyfuss & Blackford began in 1950, opened first by Albert Dreyfuss. According to a Sacramento Bee article written by Gary Delsohn dated June 18, 1995:

"Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dreyfuss served in the Navy before going to architecture school at Tulane University and then the University of Illinois. He spent some time knocking around the Caribbean with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

He eventually went to work for the State Architect's office and started what later became Dreyfuss & Blackford in April 1950 after a developer friend asked if he wanted to design some apartments. Blackford came on board a few years later and was made partner in 1957."

According to historian Roland, Leonard Blackford was:

"... a recent graduate of Berkeley’s architecture school, joined (Dreyfuss) in 1953, following a short stint in the Office of the State Architect.  Although Blackford did not become a partner until after the completion of the SMUD building, according to Dreyfuss, he was a very important member of the firm, exercising considerable influence over designs from the mid-1950s."

From its inception, according to the firm's website, their:

"... design approach has been rooted in Modernism. A clear and intuitive understanding of steel, concrete and masonry construction has resulted in striking and innovative projects -- buildings that have timeless, lasting character. In the early years, the firm designed many public schools, private office buildings and, in 1959, the SMUD headquarters building -- a landmark project that stirred international interest and earned multiple design awards."

Per historian Roland, one such feature that stirred international interest were the custom-designed extruded aluminum vertical louvers that could be tilted according to season:

"The louvers were a very innovative means of glare and temperature control entirely in keeping with the mission of the utility company and its desire to have an energy efficient facility. The louver design created considerable interest among the architectural community of the time. Architectural Forum magazine featured a stylized photo of the louvers on the front cover of its May 1961 issue."

Water City (1959) by local and world renowned artist Wayne Thiebaud

graces the exterior of the SMUD HQ building

Fantastic photo above via Flickr by local photographer Lorna Lou

Another striking feature of the building is Water City, a 1959 abstract tile mural by local artist Wayne Theibaud. Per Roland, this mural:

"... alludes to Sacramento's sitting near two major rivers. The mural suggests buildings aligned along a water way and the motion and reflectivity of moving water.... During the late 1950s Theibaud experimented with Abstract Expressionism and did other mural designs for the California State Fair. This is one of the few surviving representations of the early period of the artist's work before he adopted his mature and well-recognized realist painting style and the only work in a mosaic medium."

SMUD HQ during the day via Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects website

Dreyfuss & Blackford have built other notable buildings in our region, including:
- Lincoln Plaza
- Herman Miller in Rocklin (collaboration with Frank Gehry)
- the Vogel Chevrolet showroom (1959)
- the IBM building (520 Capitol Mall, 1961)
- the old Sacramento Union building (301 Capitol Mall, 1967 - demolished for dead project Towers on Capitol Mall)
- the apartment complex at 4100 Folsom Blvd.
- the Powell-Teichert Office Complex
- the first Arco Arena
- the original Nut Tree complex
- the original master plan for Sacramento Airport in 1963
- the United Terminal at San Francisco Airport plus other projects there
- their own firm's office building on Folsom Blvd. (1965)

However, one of Dreyfuss' favorites, per the 1995 Sacramento Bee article mentioned above, seems to be the SMUD HQ: "If we've made a contribution to the community... it's to produce buildings that have lasting qualities and will be here long after we've gone and still be good buildings. There's no reason a building shouldn't last 50 to 100 years."

UPDATE: The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places.