American artist Andrew Wyeth is one of the most popular American artists. His paintings are realistic and at the same time mysterious. They are magically attractive, although the characters and plots of his works are ordinary people, neighbors and their way of life. Landscapes differ not in beauty, but rather in everyday life, but also in understatement.
Andrew Newell Wyeth was born on July 12, 1917 in the US state of Pennsylvania and died there in his native Chadds Ford, on the 92nd year of his life, January 16, 2009.
Andrew Wyeth, 1917
The childhood of Andrew Wyeth
Wyeth ancestors emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1645. Andrew is the youngest son of Newell Converse Wyatt and his wife Carolyn Bocius Viet. Members of this family were incredibly gifted. Andrew's father is illustrator of Newell Converse Wyeth, brother is a successful inventor of Nathaniel Wyeth, his sister is portraits and still lifes artist Henrietta Wyatt Heard, son is a realist James (Jamie) Wyeth.
The father of the family, Newell Wyeth, was attentive to his children, encouraged their interests and contributed to the development of everyone's talents. The family was friendly, parents and children often spent time together reading or walking, they instilled a sense of closeness with nature and with their families. In the 1920s, Wyeth's father became a celebrity, and other famous people often looked into their house, such as the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and actress Mary Pickford.
Andrew was in fragile health, so he did not attend school. Due to the fact that he received education at home, Andrew was almost isolated from the outside world. He recalled that his father kept him almost in prison in his own world. The boy began to draw before writing. Newel introduced his son to art, artistic traditions. When his son grew up, he began to give him drawing lessons in his workshop. Father instilled in Andrew a love of rural landscapes and a sense of romance. In his teens, Andrew created illustrations, like his father, although this kind of creativity was not his main addiction. One of his masters was a painter and graphic artist, the founder of American realistic painting Winslow Homer.
Father helped Andrew gain inner self-confidence, contributed to the fact that his son was guided primarily by his own talent and understanding of beauty, and did not strive to make someone like his work, to become hits. He wrote to his son that the emotional depth and the great picture that enriches are important.
In October 1945, Newell’s father and three-year-old nephew Converse Wyeth II died in a car stuck on railroad tracks. For Andrew Wyeth, daring his father became not only a personal tragedy, but also influenced his creative career, the formation of his own realistic, mature and lasting style, which he followed for more than 70 years of his life.
Father - Illustrator Newell Converse Wyeth, 1939
Marriage and children
In 1939, in the state of Maine, Andrew Wyeth met the 18-year-old daughter of the newspaper editor Betsy James, whom he married in 1940. The newlyweds settled in a converted school building by the road leading to Andrew’s childhood home. In one of the rooms the artist created a studio for himself. Betsy played an important role in managing her husband’s career, she said, "I am a director and I had the greatest actor in the world." The wife began to compile a catalog of the artist's works, served as a model and secretary, was engaged in sales. She helped come up with plots and names of paintings.
Andrew and Betsy Wyeth, 1940
Their first child, Nicholas, was born in 1943. In 1946, James (Jamie) appeared, who followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, continuing the creative dynasty, becoming the third generation of Wyeth artists. “Our family didn’t draw dogs except, ” James Wyeth jokingly said.
James wyeth
The work of Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth held his first solo exhibition of watercolors in 1937 at the Macbeth Gallery in New York from October 19 to November 1. The exhibition was so successful that the work was sold out by October 21st. The artist was only 20 years old at that time. His painting style was different from his father's - he was more restrained and limited in color. The father was an illustrator, the son was considered realistic. Although Andrew himself attributed his work to abstractionism. He said that the objects in his paintings breathe differently and that he writes not what he sees, but what he feels.
His favorite topics were life in the American province and nature - everything that surrounded him in the hometown of Chadds Ford in Pennsylvania, as well as in the summer house in Cushing, on the coast of Maine. He divided his time between these two places, often took walks alone and drew inspiration for his work in the landscapes that were opening. Both land and sea were close to him. Wyeth’s paintings are filled with spirituality, mysterious stories and stories, behind which unexpressed emotions lie. Usually, before painting, the artist created several pencil drawings.
In 1951, Wyeth underwent lung surgery, but after a few weeks he started working again.
"Christina's World"
Perhaps the most famous image created by Andrew Wyatt is associated with his neighbor in Cushing, Christina Olson. In 1948, he painted the painting "Christina's World". It depicts a woman, either lying or crawling across the field with dry grass. She is in an awkward tense pose, looks anxiously toward the house on the hill, her hands are excessively thin, and clumsy legs in ugly boots peep out from under the pale pink dress. This woman is Christina. She was terminally ill and could not walk, so she spent most of her time at home. But Christina tried to expand her squeezed illness world and crawled through the fields surrounding her house. Wyeth admired Christina's fortitude and perseverance. At the time of writing, she was about 55 years old. She died 20 years old on January 27, 1968.
Andrew Wyeth. Christina's World, 1948
With the two-story house of Christina Olson, another famous work of the artist is associated. Christina never went upstairs to her house. Andrew got up and as a result the picture "Wind from the Sea" appeared.
Andrew Wyeth. Wind from the sea, 1947
The Olson House has been preserved, it has been renovated and open to the public as part of the Farnsworth Art Museum and in 2011 it is recognized as a national historical landmark. On it you can take a virtual walk. During the period from 1937 to the end of the 1960s, Andrew Wyeth created about 300 drawings, watercolors and tempera paintings here.
Körner farm
In the early 1930s, Wyeth began painting the German immigrants Anna and Karl Körner, his neighbors in Chadds Ford. Like the Olsons, the Kerners and their farm were some of the most important topics in Andrew Wyeth's painting. As a teenager, he walked through the hills of the Körner farm. Soon he became a close friend of Karl and Anna. For almost 50 years, Andrew depicted their home and life in his paintings, as if documenting their lives. Karl Körner died on January 6, 1979, when he was 80 years old. Wyeth created the last portrait during his illness.
Andrew Wyeth. Spring 1978
Körner Farm is recognized as a national historic landmark.
Helga
At the Körner Farm, Andrew Wyeth met Helga Testerf. She was born in Germany in 1933 or 1939. She married a German, US citizen John Testerf, and so ended up in America. Helga has become a model for many of his paintings. Wyeth painted it from 1971 to 1985. Nobody has ever painted it before. But she quickly got accustomed and could pose for a long time to Wyatt, who watched her and carefully painted. Almost always, he portrayed her as passive, unsmiling, thoughtful, strict. Nevertheless, within the framework of these deliberate restrictions, Wyatt managed to convey in her portraits the subtle qualities of character and mood.
Andrew Wyeth. Helga, 1971 First drawing
Andrew wrote a whole series of a couple of hundred paintings with images of Helga. He hid these works for a long time. Betsy did not know about them. When the secret was revealed, the wife was shocked, but admitted that the paintings were masterfully executed. Wyeth often painted Helga naked, tirelessly admiring her. These two could walk for a long time together in the vicinity. And even while walking, he painted it. Was it love? Andrew Wyeth did not welcome talk of love and questions about Helga.
In 1986, Philadelphia-based publisher and millionaire Leonard Andrews acquired a collection of 240 paintings for $ 6 million. A couple of years later, he sold it to a Japanese collector for allegedly $ 45 million.
In a 2007 interview, when Wyatt was asked if Helga would be present at his 90th birthday party, he said, “Yes, of course. Oh, absolutely, ” and continued, “Now she’s part of the family, it’s shocking everyone. This is something that I really like. It really shockes them."
Helga actually entered the Wyeth family, and when he was weakened due to old age, she looked after him.
The death of Andrew Wyeth
On January 16, 2009, Andrew Wyeth, after a short illness, died in a dream in Chadds Ford, PA. He was 91 years old. Buried in a private cemetery in Maine. Having poor health from birth, he nevertheless lived a long life as did Norwegian artist Edward Munch
Andrew Wyeth
