Wayne Thiebaud is famous for his colorful paintings of mouthwatering cakes, pies, pastries, and everyday items. While his work enjoys a broad appeal and evokes a distinctly American nostalgia, Thiebaud’s complex depictions of light and shadow give depth and strangeness to his deceptively simple compositions. His canvases share affinities with both early Pop art and a longer tradition of still-life painting. At auction, Thiebaud’s paintings regularly sell for millions, and his work has been acquired for the collections of nearly every American museum of note, from the Brooklyn Museum and Smithsonian American Art Museum to the Art Institute of Chicago and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.