photo: “PENNSYLVANIA—Painter Andrew Wyeth, 1991.” ©David Alan Harvey/Magnum
Long after I had fallen for the paintings of Andrew Wyeth did I discover we shared the same birthday.
Andrew Wyeth (July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009). RIP, birthday buddy.
Love (from San Francisco!),
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged Andrew Wyeth, Birthday Buddy, Little Wolf, Maryanna Hoggatt
I have christened my new sketchbook with the first drawing:
It reads, “If Andrew Wyeth were still alive, he’d see this house in Portland and paint every single shingle, window, and door“.
I had thought of this Wyeth painting, Weatherside:
In which he does just that.
I must have driven past this house a million times, but sometimes you don’t see something until you’re looking for it. I like the crazy colors, and how the oddly attached bookstore juts out in front. So I took a quick picture and drew from it.
++++++
This time tomorrow I’ll be in Seattle, for a quick weekend getaway. I’ll be bringing my sketchbook, in the (somewhat futile) hope to document the city in a blend of drawings and photographs. But really, I’ll probably just be drinking lots of manhattans and doing nothing.
See ya next week!
Posted in Illustration, Sketchbook
Tagged Andrew Wyeth, Ink, Little Wolf, Maryanna Hoggatt, Weatherside
Today is my birthday, and I just so happen to share the same birthday with one of my all-time favorite artists, Andrew Wyeth.
1917 – 2009
(image by Jim Graham)
For my 25th birthday a few years ago, I received the book, Andrew Wyeth: Autobiography, as a gift. It still stands as one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten.
This book is a must for any Wyeth fan, and a good introductory book for those who aren’t familiar with his work. Not only does it feature many of his best paintings (138 reproductions spanning 6 decades), but a small explanation by Wyeth himself also accompany each piece. They are often humorous, revealing, and offer great insight into the mind of an artist.
Wyeth is perhaps best known for his painting, Christina’s World, 1948:
One of the most well-known American artists of the 20th century, Wyeth was popular with both the American public and art collectors. Art critics? Not so much. They felt he was overly sentimental. During the height of his career, he was a representational artist lost in a sea of abstraction.
Battleground, 1981
Pennsylvania Landscape, 1942
Crows, 1944
The thing is, Wyeth was very sentimental, in a very genuine way. He divided his time between rural Pennsylvania and Maine, developing a love affair with the land, the people that resided there, the houses, the meadows, every blade of grass – and he painted all of them.
Snow Flurries, 1953
Of Snow Flurries:
“I spent almost a year on this tempera because I was fascinated by the motion of those cloud shadows on that hill near Kuerner’s farm and by what the hill meant to me. I’ve walked that hill a hundred times, a thousand times, ever since I was a small child, so it was deathless as far as I was concerned. I could probably just paint a hill for the rest of my life……”
Tempura is a medium in which you mix dry pigment with egg yolk. This method TAKES FOREVER – many of Wyeth’s paintings took more than a year to complete.
Image from Look magazine, photographer unknown
The Kuerners, 1971. A humorous painting of his neighbors.
Among his many awards, Wyeth received the Nation Medal of Arts of 2007 – the ultimate high five to any artist. In 2009, Wyeth passed away in his sleep at his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, at the age of 91.
photo by Bruce Weber
I celebrated my birthday yesterday with a trip to the Portland Art Museum to view the R. Crumb exhibit. Today, as I reflect on what it means to be the big 2 – 9, I will probably enjoy a delicious cocktail with my favorite fellow artist, Jake. Til next time.
