Andrew Wyeth: an appreciation

by Richard Reeve on January 17, 2009

in AziMuth

When I heard that Andrew Wyeth died, many thoughts of his impact on my life surfaced.

I’m blessed by the hours I’ve been able to absorb his work.   The stark beauty in and around Chadds Ford is a testimony to the uniqueness of place.  His vision of the rural mind frame gave me confidence that I too could find my place in a rural locale.

With the Wyeth’s there is the sense that the creative life can be a family adventure.  They show the older mind frame of techne as a family gift, that the creative vision and capability can be passed along from parent to child down through the generations.  And that spark can spread beyond the family.  My wife was graced with a visit from Mr. Wyeth when in second grade.  He drew her a barn and gave a few words of encouragement.  She has been on her artist’s path ever since.

Finally, there is one other message that I do not want to let slip.  He, like many who adopt a posture honoring the fountain of creativity, continued to create continuously through his life and up to the end of it.  He kept his creative production going.  Creative engagement was his life.  The corporate fable concerning retirement has more to do with cost structure then ability.  Examples like the one Wyeth left us help us embrace the idea Jung formulated: while the first half of life is about learning how to live in the world, the second half of life is about learning how to leave it.

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  • From an artist's soul...I will miss him.
  • Al Kernan once remarked to me that many writers had only one or two stories to tell. If like O'neill or Faulkner they were lucky it took most of their life to find how to tell it correctly. If, like, Hemingway you're unlucky, you did right the first time. I know if the remark can be applied to painters, but Wyth always struck me as trying to realize a mystry behind appearance and never quite succeeding. We Spectators can sense there's more there but it remains tantalizing outside our consciousness.

    <abbr>Sid Parham´s last blog post..Not in My Lifetime III</abbr>
  • Hi Sid,
    As William James said, our perception is always fringed by a "more." Perhaps that sense in his work could be viewed as a type of realism beyond the accuracy of line and value...
  • He was truly an amazing artist. His ability to capture texture blows me away. His studies of "Helga" amaze me the most, although he had plenty of mindblowing texture studies in his later years, too.

    Thanks for pointing out the fact that he kept his creative process going. I really need to MAKE time for creative work, no matter how busy my life gets.
  • Hello Rebecca,
    His resurrection of tempera as a medium was a real surprise for me, an texture, yes, amazing range of textures...very noticeable in Helga portraits where face, surrounded by fur next to tree bark.
  • He sounds like a man I'd like to learn more about. Thanks for the introduction Richard.

    "He kept his creative production going"...what a gift. For him and, obviously, others. Can you recommend any starting points for getting to know his work?

    Thank you sir...

    <abbr>Jeb Dickerson´s last blog post..On the road to nowhere.</abbr>
  • Hey Jeb,
    The link opens up to some good resources in Wikipedia. My experiences were at museums, not in books. We do have a few books of his images here, but reproductions never do the works justice (that goes for all painting...
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