Our top picks of exhibitions together with cultural spaces and places, both online and in the real world.

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Viewing Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life

The Wick Culture - Wayne Thiebaud. Jackpot Machine (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum

Above Wayne Thiebaud. Jackpot Machine (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum

The Wick Culture - Wayne Thiebaud. Boston Cremes (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Crocker Art Museum

Above Wayne Thiebaud. Boston Cremes (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Crocker Art Museum

The Wick Culture - Wayne Thiebaud. Three Machines (1963) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Above Wayne Thiebaud. Three Machines (1963) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

The Wick Culture - Wayne Thiebaud. Delicatessen Counter (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of The Menil Collection, Houston

Above Wayne Thiebaud. Delicatessen Counter (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of The Menil Collection, Houston

Above Wayne Thiebaud. Jackpot Machine (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum

Above Wayne Thiebaud. Boston Cremes (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Crocker Art Museum

Above Wayne Thiebaud. Three Machines (1963) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Above Wayne Thiebaud. Delicatessen Counter (1962) © Wayne Thiebaud. Courtesy of The Menil Collection, Houston

The Courtauld
Somerset House
Strand
London
WC2R 0RN
10 October, 2025 – 18 January, 2026

The critically acclaimed Wayne Thiebaud exhibition at the Courtauld closes this week, so hotfoot it to Somerset House to catch the first major UK museum show devoted to this seminal American artist (1920–2021), which brings together an extraordinary selection of his vibrant still lifes from the late 1950s and 1960s, a period when he reinvented traditional genres by turning everyday consumer objects into compelling works of art.

Thiebaud is celebrated for his lushly painted delicious depictions of cakes, ice creams, deli counters, gum-ball machines and even pinball machines—subjects drawn from the visual language of post-war America. With thick impasto and radiant colour, he transforms seemingly mundane fare into images that are at once enticing and profound, inviting viewers to consider the significance of ordinary things. It might have you abandoning your new years’ healthy eating resolutions.

The exhibition features loans from major US institutions such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, alongside works from the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation. Complementing the main display, Wayne Thiebaud: Delights in the Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery showcases a portfolio of 17 etchings from 1964, highlighting the artist’s printmaking alongside his paintings. The show also places Thiebaud’s work in dialogue with European masterpieces in the Courtauld’s own collection, notably exploring connections with Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère — a still-life precursor that influenced Thiebaud’s own artistic vision. A feast for the eyes.

Viewing Richard Avedon: Facing West & Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency

The Wick Culture - Freida Kleinsasser, thirteen-year-old, Hutterite colony, Harlowton, Montana, June 23, 1983 © The Richard Avedon Foundation. Courtesy of Gagosian

Above Freida Kleinsasser, thirteen-year-old, Hutterite colony, Harlowton, Montana, June 23, 1983 © The Richard Avedon Foundation. Courtesy of Gagosian

The Wick Culture - Annette Gonzales, housewife, and her sister Lydia Ranck, secretary, Santuario de Chimayo, New Mexico, Easter Sunday, April 6, 1980
© The Richard Avedon Foundation.
Courtesy of Gagosian

Above Annette Gonzales, housewife, and her sister Lydia Ranck, secretary, Santuario de Chimayo, New Mexico, Easter Sunday, April 6, 1980 © The Richard Avedon Foundation. Courtesy of Gagosian

The Wick Culture - Facing West, 2026, installation view
Artwork © The Richard Avedon Foundation
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.
Courtesy of Gagosian

Above Facing West, 2026, installation view Artwork © The Richard Avedon Foundation Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Courtesy of Gagosian

The Wick Culture - Robert Dixon, meat packer, Aurora, Colorado, June 15, 1983 © The Richard Avedon Foundation Courtesy of Gagosian

Above Robert Dixon, meat packer, Aurora, Colorado, June 15, 1983 © The Richard Avedon Foundation Courtesy of Gagosian

Above Facing West, 2026, installation view Artwork © The Richard Avedon Foundation Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Courtesy of Gagosian

The Wick Culture - Nan Goldin. Shelley on her sofa, New York City
(1979) from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” 1973–86 © Nan Goldin.
Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian

Above Nan Goldin. Shelley on her sofa, New York City (1979) from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” 1973–86 © Nan Goldin. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian

The Wick Culture - Nan Goldin.
C.Z. and Max on the beach, Truro, Mass.
(1976) from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” 1973–86
© Nan Goldin
Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian

Above Nan Goldin. C.Z. and Max on the beach, Truro, Mass. (1976) from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” 1973–86 © Nan Goldin Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian

The Wick Culture - Nan Goldin
Cookie at Tin Pan Alley, New York City
(1983) from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” 1973–86
© Nan Goldin
Courtesy the artist and Gagosian

Above Nan Goldin Cookie at Tin Pan Alley, New York City (1983) from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” 1973–86 © Nan Goldin Courtesy the artist and Gagosian

The Wick Culture - Nan Goldin
Suzanne with Mona Lisa, Mexico City
(1981) from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” 1973–86
© Nan Goldin
Courtesy the artist and Gagosian

Above Nan Goldin Suzanne with Mona Lisa, Mexico City (1981) from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” 1973–86 © Nan Goldin Courtesy the artist and Gagosian