Wayne Thiebaud (1920–2021)
1956–59
Oil on canvas
This painting is an early example of Wayne Thiebaud’s fascination with the everyday commercial display of food seen in shop windows and on store counters across the United States. His tight focus on one section of this delicatessen or butcher’s counter draws us in and casts us as customers selecting from the array of meats. Such compositions became a mainstay of Thiebaud’s still lifes of the 1960s. Although his painting style changed markedly from the lively brushwork used here, Meat Counter set the stage for his later countertop paintings.