Flatland River 1997

Wayne Thiebaud painted 'Flatland River' to be viewed from above, using his signature style of bright colors and simplified forms. He’s a magician with a palette knife. He’s working with a limited palette of yellows, greens and blues – I can imagine Thiebaud’s studio full of dozens of variations in his head. The painting is a bird’s eye view of the Californian landscape, with a river snaking through fields and orchards. Thiebaud creates a sense of depth and distance through the use of color and line, but he also flattens the space in a way that makes the painting feel both real and surreal. I can imagine him staring down at the river from the window of his apartment. He’s in conversation with other landscape painters like David Hockney, but with a more dreamlike approach, maybe? Thiebaud doesn’t force a singular meaning, but allows the painting to exist in its own right, open to multiple interpretations. He's inviting us to find our own way through the landscape, both literally and metaphorically.