b. 1917 d. 2009
Site Affiliation: Andrew Wyeth Studio
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) is recognized as one of the most important American artists of the twentieth century. For more than seven decades he painted the regions of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, where he was born, and mid-coast Maine, where he spent his summers.
At age fifteen he began artistic training under his father, artist N.C. Wyeth. His career as a watercolorist was launched in 1937, when his first one-man show at Macbeth Gallery in New York drew critical acclaim. Andrew Wyeth also became a master of egg tempera, an ancient method that blends dry pigments with egg yolk and distilled water. In contrast to watercolor’s spontaneity and translucency, tempera is a time-consuming process that yields opaque and richly varied surfaces.
An astute observer who freely manipulated his subjects, transforming them in order to evoke memories, ideas, and emotions, Wyeth created mysterious undercurrents in his landscapes, interiors, and portraits.
Primary Medium: Painting
Primary Stylistic Term: Magical Realist
HAHS Affiliations: Andrew is the son of American painter, N.C. Wyeth
Fun Fact: As a boy Andrew Wyeth collected military miniatures, and throughout his life he received them as gifts. There are now over 900 of them displayed in the Andrew Wyeth studio.
Recommended Publications: Rethinking Andrew Wyeth, eds. David Cateforis, (University of California Press, 2014); Andrew Wyeth In Retrospect, eds. Patricia Junker and Audrey Lewis (Brandywine River Museum of Art / Seattle Art Museum with Yale University Press, 2017)