Andrew Wyeth

(1917 - 2009)















Groundhog Day, 1959 tempera
I've always loved this painting. I pulled a reproduction from an old Horizon magazine as a young girl, and have carried it with me since.
















Trodden Weed, 1951 tempera.
For all the emphasis on his realism, I always appreciated the abstract qualities in his work.

9 comments:

Leslie Avon Miller said...

My favorite realistic painter. I just posted about him a few days ago. Tears…..

Unknown said...

Tears for sure. As an Easterner I have always felt he saw the same East I see, and I strongly suspect that people from other places could say the same.

Jen Bradford said...

It's funny, he's one of those artists who gets such a bad rap. I did degrees in art history and painting, and in both zones he was dismissed out of hand for being an illustrator, sentimental, etc. There are paintings I like far more than others, but that's true of every artist. I resent being advised not to admire someone - and have always had a soft spot for Wyeth.

Jen Bradford said...

I should confess to not shedding tears when a man of ninety-one passes. He had a good life, and a long one. I feel like I did when Paul Newman died - this sense of "Good job, thank you, rest well."

Marcia Miner said...

Not a literal tear, but the wish for one more ah moment that a number of his painting have given me.

One of my favorites I can't find on line, but it is in my book of his paintings. It is a watercolor of an old black man. The blurb next to the painting says, "There was about Tom Clark just a suggestion of a mysterious heritage. His features were sharp and his eyes a disarming blue. As he sat in his morris chair, posing, the stove pipe became a crown that he wore with great dignity, and blue of his garret ceiling, royal.

Jen Bradford said...

Is it That Gentleman? I like the scissors in that painting, and the bright patch of light. Pretty sure that's tempera, so you may be talking about something else.

Nothing wrong with tears, btw - I was just describing my own reaction.

Marcia Miner said...

It isn't "That Gentlemen" which I had never seen before I looked it up, but I like it. The painting I mean is of that very same model, Tom Clark. I can't find it anywhere. In my book it is titled "Chester County" which is strange for a portrait.

Jake said...

Saw your comment on Althouse. My obit is here:

http://www.spyralnotebook.com/2009/01/rip-andrew-wyeth.html

Jen Bradford said...

Thanks Jake - very nice piece.