Wayne Thiebaud donates works to Laguna Art Museum

Artist Wayne Thiebaud has donated an oil painting and a group of six prints to the Laguna Art Museum in Orange County. The gift was made official on Saturday at a museum ceremony where Thiebaud was honored with the California Art Award in recognition of his part in raising the prominence of California art around the world.

The donation includes the 2002 oil painting “Jolly Cones,” which depicts two upside-down ice-cream cones sporting cartoon faces. A version of the painting appeared on the cover of the New Yorker magazine in 2002. The six prints date from 1964 to 2012.

The museum said these are the first Thiebaud works to be added to its collection of California art.

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Thiebaud, who grew up in Long Beach, is known for his depictions of beach life in Southern California and for his colorful paintings of dessert sweets. He is also the designer behind the California arts license plate.

Saturday’s ceremony featured James Cuno, president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, who presented the award to Thiebaud.

The Laguna Art Museum held a retrospective show of Thiebaud’s work in 2007.

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