He is probably one of the most loved and easily recognizable American artists. Working primarily in watercolor and tempera, he is probably best known for Christina's World, which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York.
It's an amazing painting so see up close and personal and is hung next to the escalators - it's a weird spot, almost if MoMA doesn't know what to do with it.
Yeah, that's really where it is - catch it on your way to the fifth floor men's room. I wonder how many people go to MoMA, see Starry Night, and leave thinking, "I thought they had that Wyeth painting there") Part of me wonders if that's a metaphor for the art world's opinion of Wyeth - loved by the masses but maybe not seen as "important" as other painters. Don't look at me, I'm no expert.
Personally, I love his work - it has a tone of melancholy and loneliness that I see in painters like Hopper or the American Realists. It also has detail in watercolor like I've never seen. One of the things I like best about his work is that like some of my other favorite artists, he spent his time painting the ordinary and the mundane and gave it a sense of nobility. He seemed to take joy in painting "regular America" - his neighbors, his children, the areas around his homes and noticing the interesting art in things we see every day.
A couple of years ago, we were able to see the amazing exhibit of Wyeth and his son Jamie at the Denver Art Museum and it still ranks as one of the best special exhibits I've ever seen, anywhere. Last fall, totally by chance, we saw another exhibit at the Portland Art Museum that featured all three generations of Wyeths - with Andrew's father N.C. Wyeth alongside Andrew and Jamie. (That exhibit is going on until the end of this month and it's worth seeing if you're in the Portland area)
I love that his work is so grounded in nature - so much of it is inspired by his summer home in Maine or his year-round home in Chadds Ford. If you're in the Philadelphia area, it's not that far a drive to Chadds Ford to visit the Brandywine Conservatory and Museum of Art, which along with a permanent museum for the Wyeth family's work also gives tours of the homes and studios of N.C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth.
This is the sign Wyeth put on the door of his home and studio and it is still there today. I swear to God, if Brandywine sold reproductions of it, I would have bought one. Don't worry, though - the museum will happily give you a tour.
All three generations of Wyeths have made some amazing and inspiring art but Andrew's work feels the most uniquely American.
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