The Courtauld has extended its opening hours on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 January 2026 for The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Wayne Thiebaud. American Still Life, to ensure that visitors can experience this critically acclaimed, five-star exhibition before it closes.
★★★★★ “Staggering still lifes” – The Guardian
★★★★★ “Mouthwatering masterpieces” – The Telegraph
★★★★★ “Dazzling” – The i Paper
“Ravishing viewing” – The Financial Times
Recently rated as one of the top exhibitions of 2025 by The Telegraph and The i Paper, The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Wayne Thiebaud. American Still Life will be open until 21:00 on both evenings (last entry 20:15) and tickets are now available to book on the Courtauld website.
The first ever museum show of Wayne Thiebaud’s work in the UK, it presents his remarkable, vibrant and lushly painted still-lifes of quintessentially post-war American subjects, from diner food and deli counters to gumball dispensers and pinball machines. These are the paintings with which Thiebaud made his name in the USA in the early 1960s.
Thiebaud considered the everyday objects of American life to be a vital subject for contemporary art, and he saw his work as continuing the radical legacy of earlier still-life paintings by Chardin, Manet, Cézanne and others. Thiebaud believed in the importance of commonplace objects that might otherwise be overlooked or considered kitsch. His work turns hot dogs, lemon meringue pies and glossy cream cakes into the stuff of profound modern painting.
An accompanying display in the Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery, Wayne Thiebaud. Delights, focuses on the artist’s celebrated 1965 portfolio of 17 exquisite etchings to offer further insight into his still-life motifs and work as a graphic artist.
The exhibition is curated by Dr Karen Serres, Senior Curator of Paintings, and Dr Barnaby Wright, Deputy Head of The Courtauld Gallery and Daniel Katz Curator of 20th-Century Art. It is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue showcasing new research on Thiebaud’s still lifes, with contributions from leading scholars.
Highlights on display
