1917 - 2009
Andrew Wyeth is the youngest of N.C. Wyeth's five children. Andrew had no formal schooling but was tutored at home. As a child he studied the landscape in watercolor, played with toy soildiers, and avidly immersed himself in World War I lore. From the age of 15 he drew from casts in his father's studio, graduating to anatomy and the figure only after long study.
Wyeth does not believe in the large artist's studio but rather seeks out his subjects in nature. His art is personal, private and scrutinizing; so much so that he produces numerous works on a single theme, dipicting different moments, moods or views that become a type of cycle. He wrote on his NAD bio form: "My aim is to paint as clearly as possible the feelings I have of nature."
Wyeth's earliest series centered around a strong friendship he developed with Anna and Karl Kuerner who lived in an old farmhouse near him home in the Brandywine Valley. The elderly couple's life--which included elements such as memories of Karl's service in World War I in Germany, guns, hunting, daily chores, and Anna, who spoke only German--provided the context for a penetrating study of farm life.
Another series, done in Cushing, Maine, where the Wyeths spent their summers, centered around Christina Olson and her brother Alvaro. Christina and Alvaro were introduced to Wyeth by Betsy James, also of Cushing, whom Wyeth later married (1940). The series on the Olsens was similar to that on the Kuerners in that both presented the rural life of an elderly couple. Christina was the model for Wyeth's most popular work "Christina's World" (1948) which depicts the crippled Christina pushing herself up a hillside toward her farmhouse.
Wyeth's most recent series, the Helga paintings, represents a similar type of intese relationship with the model, but explores the life of a younger individual.
Wyeth's first exhibition at Macbeth's (1937) sold out immediately, presaging the great popular success that Wyeth would achieve with the public. Coe Kerr, who later became Wyeth's dealer, purchased a watercolor from that show.
Wyeth works in watercolor, drybrush watercorlor, and egg tempera; the possibilities of egg tempera were introduced to him by his brother-in-law Peter Hurd in the late 1930s. While Wyeth is noted for his precise renderings, he considers his work to be highly abstract in conception and range.
Wyeth was the first NAD member to be elected to the watercolor class. To qualify as NA he submitted "Waiting For A Bus".
Wyeth does not believe in the large artist's studio but rather seeks out his subjects in nature. His art is personal, private and scrutinizing; so much so that he produces numerous works on a single theme, dipicting different moments, moods or views that become a type of cycle. He wrote on his NAD bio form: "My aim is to paint as clearly as possible the feelings I have of nature."
Wyeth's earliest series centered around a strong friendship he developed with Anna and Karl Kuerner who lived in an old farmhouse near him home in the Brandywine Valley. The elderly couple's life--which included elements such as memories of Karl's service in World War I in Germany, guns, hunting, daily chores, and Anna, who spoke only German--provided the context for a penetrating study of farm life.
Another series, done in Cushing, Maine, where the Wyeths spent their summers, centered around Christina Olson and her brother Alvaro. Christina and Alvaro were introduced to Wyeth by Betsy James, also of Cushing, whom Wyeth later married (1940). The series on the Olsens was similar to that on the Kuerners in that both presented the rural life of an elderly couple. Christina was the model for Wyeth's most popular work "Christina's World" (1948) which depicts the crippled Christina pushing herself up a hillside toward her farmhouse.
Wyeth's most recent series, the Helga paintings, represents a similar type of intese relationship with the model, but explores the life of a younger individual.
Wyeth's first exhibition at Macbeth's (1937) sold out immediately, presaging the great popular success that Wyeth would achieve with the public. Coe Kerr, who later became Wyeth's dealer, purchased a watercolor from that show.
Wyeth works in watercolor, drybrush watercorlor, and egg tempera; the possibilities of egg tempera were introduced to him by his brother-in-law Peter Hurd in the late 1930s. While Wyeth is noted for his precise renderings, he considers his work to be highly abstract in conception and range.
Wyeth was the first NAD member to be elected to the watercolor class. To qualify as NA he submitted "Waiting For A Bus".
