Andrew Wyeth

Date of Birth: July 12, 1917

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Date of Death: January 16, 2009

Biography

Andrew Newell Wyeth was an acclaimed American realist painter, best known for his detailed depictions of the rural American landscape and the people who inhabit it. Born on July 12, 1917, in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Wyeth was the youngest of five children in a family deeply entrenched in the arts. His father, N.C. Wyeth, was a famous illustrator who provided Andrew with his initial training in drawing and painting. Wyeth’s style was characterized by his meticulous attention to detail and his use of tempera and watercolor to create highly realistic works. Wyeth’s most famous painting, “Christina’s World” (1948), depicts a woman crawling across a field toward a distant farmhouse and is regarded as one of the most iconic images in American art. Wyeth spent much of his career in his hometown of Chadds Ford and in Cushing, Maine, where he found inspiration in the landscapes and the people. Over his long career, Wyeth received numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His works are held in major museums and private collections worldwide, and he remains one of the most well-known and beloved American artists of the 20th century.

5 Interesting Facts about Andrew Wyeth

1. Andrew Wyeth was homeschooled due to his frail health as a child, which allowed him ample time to develop his artistic skills.

2. “Christina’s World” was inspired by Wyeth’s neighbor, Christina Olson, who had a degenerative muscular disorder.

3. Wyeth was the first painter to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented by President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

4. He often painted in secret, creating a series of over 240 paintings and drawings known as “The Helga Pictures,” which were unveiled to the public in 1986.

5. Despite his fame, Wyeth preferred a reclusive lifestyle, living and working in the same two rural areas throughout his life.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Andrew Wyeth

1. “I think one’s art goes as far and as deep as one’s love goes.”

2. “Most artists look for something fresh to paint; frankly I find that quite boring. For me it is much more exciting to find fresh meaning in something familiar.”

3. “I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape—the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show.”

4. “I dream a lot. I do more painting when I’m not painting. It’s in the subconscious.”

5. “If you clean it up, get analytical, all the subtle joy and emotion you felt in the first place goes flying out the window.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

Andrew Wyeth’s highest net worth is estimated to have reached around $20 million.

Children

Andrew Wyeth had two children with his wife, Betsy James Wyeth: Nicholas Wyeth, an art dealer, and James Browning Wyeth, also known as Jamie Wyeth, who is a well-known artist in his own right.