Who was Andrew Wyeth?

 

   Who was Andrew Wyeth? To me, he is an artist that embraces what he creates. An Artist that is well known in Kennet Square, Pennsylvania that there is a restaurant he would frequently eat at around the summer at his leisure.

     Even though he's no longer with us, Andrew is well known to many people who live not far from the art museum that is home to many of his paintings.

  Andrew was born on July 12th in 1917 by N.C. Wyeth, another artist who is known for his paintings in certain novels like "Treasure Island" and "Kidnapped"

    Unlike Andrew, I never was a huge fan of N.C.'s paintings. Even if he is the father of Andrew, they have different styles and techniques when it comes to their artistry and their paintings. 

    Sadly, N.C. died in 1945 with his grandson who was three at the time in an accident involving a train.

    Andrew mostly painting scenery of Chadd's Ford, and Cushing, Maine where he would spend most of the summers back when he was young.

    He would paint mostly of girls or men or even dogs sleeping on a bed. But there is one famous painting that he is known for that I have seen many times, and the more times I see it...I start to understand the tragedy behind the woman in the painting.

   Her name was Christina Olsen, and the painting named Christina's World depicts of her lying on the ground getting closer to home. Some people think this painting is of a woman just lying on the grass, but no one knew the other side of the painting.

   It seemed Christina Wilson was suffering from not only a muscular disorder, but Polio as well. She died twenty years after the painting was finished in 1948. It is considered one of Andrew's greatest works and no one knew the suffering from the painting.

  Andrew has paint what he has seen through his eyes throughout his life. Some that are from his life in either Chadds Ford or Cushing, Maine.

   Some were just models that would approve of Andrew painting him in the nude or even, certain models that would just stand there sad or wonder what he would paint next.

  One model was named Helga Testof who used to be a neighbor of the Wyeth family back in Chadd's Ford and of the course of their neighborly bond, Andrew would paint her for many years.

   Some people would think that... she was doing the painting in order to.... have her way with Andrew. The truth was.... Andrew would quote, "The difference between me and other painters is that I have a personal contact with my models. I had become enamored. Smitten. That's what happened when I saw Helga." He left it at that.

 













   In 2007, when he was almost 90 years old, George Bush awarded Andrew with the National Medal of Art. It wouldn't be his first since he received one in 1963 for the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and in 1990 he was one of the first Artist to be rewarded the Congressional Gold Medel. 

    It was one of his final appearances and many people were proud of Andrew for receiving this award. Me included.

   It seems artistry runs in the Wyeth blood for not only was Andrew a son of an artist, but his son, Jamie is an inspiring artist of his own.

   Like his father, he too has brilliance in his work.

   Although I prefer his father, Jamie's paintings are also seen in the Chadd's Ford art museum. He also has a granddaughter named Victoria who also is a talented artist and is carrying on the Wyeth family tradition of painting. 

   Sadly, we lost Andrew Wyeth for an illness in 2009 at the age of 92. I still have the memorial newspaper clippings in my home. 

   What I will remember most is through the paintings that I still love. I even have a few books that have notes on each painting including Helga and Christina's World.

    Even though he's been gone for almost 16 years, he's still known and remembered through his art, his family, and everyone that knows Andrew Wyeth...will always be an amazing painter.