Friday, January 16, 2009

Andrew Wyeth is no longer with us

Andrew Wyeth, whose paintings and drawings had such impact on the developing mythology of America, has passed away at the age of 91 -- you can read more here. He died peacefully in his sleep.

No one else ever painted America with the keen insight and moodiness that Wyeth did. To share a quote from a family friend interviewed in the article I've linked to:

Andrew Wyeth is to me the most solidly American artist of the twentieth century. He continued steadfastly to invest his paintings with deep and metaphoric emotion even when it was completely unfashionable in the period of pop art and abstract expressionism, which was ironic, distant and cool.

Which is to say, he was an artist who never compromised.

Please join me in a moment of silence to recognize his achievement and that now that he has moved on, we are down one of our great artists.

The painting shown above is Christina's World.

2 comments:

Cheryl, the jungian Knitter said...

Not to pick a nit but Wyeth painted in Maine and Pennsylvania, not the midwest. Christina's World was painted in and shows the Olson farm in Cushing, Maine, which is on the coast of Maine -- decidedly not in the midwest.

Dante's Heart said...

Cheryl, thank you for the correction. How embarrassing! I have fixed it in the post.