Andrew Wyeth ( American, b. 1917)

Andrew Wyeth was born in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on July 12, 1917.  He grew up with the teachings of his father, another famous and talented American artist, N.C. Wyeth. N.C., most widely recognized for his Treasure Island illustrations, taught Andrew the techniques of art and he received a general education by private tutors. Wyeth debuted with his first show in New York City in 1937 at the age of twenty, and it was a sell-out.  His following has remained strong and steady ever since. Four years later, Wyeth was included in “The Twentieth International Exhibition of Watercolors” exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. Wyeth’s celebrated artwork was also included in the “American Realists and Magic Realists” exhibit hosted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1943.  Beginning in the late 1940’s Wyeth’s work became the premier exhibit at museums including “Andrew Wyeth Watercolors” at the Seattle Art Museum, “Paintings and Drawings by Andrew Wyeth” at the Art Museum in Rockland, Maine,  “Andrew Wyeth” at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California, “Andrew Wyeth: A Retrospective Exhibition of Temperas and Watercolors” in Cambridge, Massachussettes. Wyeth is now 88 years old and still painting in the same timeless style he began with over six decades ago. 

Andrew has been labeled “America’s painter” by many critics and art lovers alike, he is one of the most recognizable living artists because of the mythic stature he has achieved.  The realism in Wyeth ’s paintings is so astoundingly accurate in detail that the textures and expressions of the models bring the viewer into his artwork with a sense that one could reach into the painting and feel his subjects. Wyeth is skilled in such varied mediums as charcoal, watercolor, dry brush, tempera and more.  From his original works he has created a select few multiple originals in order to share his genius with a wider audience. Andrew Wyeth, a painter of remarkable poetic masterpieces, is renown for his landscapes of Maine and Pennsylvania and his beloved family and friends. His works always carry a deep intimacy and insightful realism regardless of the medium he chooses.

Andrew Wyeth’s artwork is exhibited in every major museum in the world as well as being a part of the most prominent public and private collections.  His contribution to the world of art has been recorded in every notable art history book created in his time.  Wyeth has succeeded in winning worldwide popularity, inspiring countless artists and earning some of the highest prices ever paid for the works of a living American artist. Wyeth has been honored with the most prestigious and highly regarded awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and he was the first artist ever to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.  Wyeth has been featured in many magazine and literary publications including articles dedicated solely to the artist in Life Magazine in 1997 and the Smithsonian magazine in 2006.