(wife of Wayne Thiebaud) Portrait of a woman, full length, frontal position, seated in a chair & reading a book.

Betty Jean

Thiebaud, Wayne

1964

Artwork Information

  • Title:

    Betty Jean

  • Artist:

    Thiebaud, Wayne

  • Artist Bio:

    American, 1920–2021

  • Date:

    1964

  • Medium:

    Graphite

  • Dimensions:

    9 15/16 x 8 1/2 inches

  • Credit Line:

    Wichita Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd T. Amsden through the Friends of the Wichita Art Museum

  • Object Number:

    1995.5

  • Display:

    Not Currently on Display

About the Artwork

Wayne Thiebaud’s lusciously depicted and perfectly composed works have been lauded for the past 50 years. Throughout that long career, Thiebaud has often turned his artistic eye to Betty Jean Thiebaud, his wife and muse of more than five decades.  In this precisely rendered drawing, Betty Jean from 1964, the artist captures his wife delicately balancing a book on her knees as she reads. Though the subject matter—a woman reading—is a standard in art history, Thiebaud infuses it with his wife’s own carefree personality by capturing her flowing hair, slightly askew posture, and her delicately drawn bare feet.