wyeth

Andrew Wyeth (b.1917)

Andrew's father, N.C. Wyeth, was a well-known illustrator of children's works such as Robin Hood and Treasure Island.

School made Andrew "nervous," so he was educated at home where he was able to act out his fantasies with costumes from his father's illustrations. His father also taught him art and instructed him to become the person or object he was portraying.

Three things happened to influence his later style. He grew up between two world wars. His father was killed in an automobile accident. He nearly died from an illness.

Andrew sold out his first art show when he was 19.

When he was 22 he went to visit a Mr. James who knew a potential buyer. The man was not there, but his daughter Betsy offered to take him so visit two of her friends. Christina Olsen had been crippled by polio and lived with her brother Alvaro. After Andrew and Betsy were married, they would visit the Olsens every summer. He was looking out of the upstairs studio window one day and saw Christina pulling herself back up the hill from the garden. He painted the scene from Christina's viewpoint at the bottom of the hill. Being shy about asking Christina to pose, he had Betsy fill in for her in what became his most famous work, Christina's World.

In 1986 there was a brief scandal when the public learned that for 15 years (1970-1985) he had been working secretly on 246 pictures, including nudes, of a neighbor named Helga.

Unlike many other artists, Wyeth has not studied in Europe or traveled extensively.

Wyeth's son Jamie is carrying on the family tradition as a gifted artist.

Although he is sometimes referred to as a "Magic Realist," Wyeth actually says, "I,m pure abstractionist in my thought." "I want more than half the story. There are some people who like my work because they see every blade of grass. They're seeing only one side of it. They don't see the tone. If you can combine realism and abstraction, you've got something terrific."