Andrew Wyeth's father, N.C. Wyeth died in an accident just as young Andy was establishing himself as an artist. As Andrew (1917-2009) recalls in this rare interview, filmed at the time of his 80th birthday, he never got around to painting a portrait of his dad, even though N.C. was a very important figure in his life.
(Video link) "I made drawings of him, but nothing important, and I think that was a great tragedy of my life when he was killed, that I hadn't done it. It changed my whole outlook on portraiture for me personally. When you know something, and feel it, and have a love for it, my God, do it. Don't let it go by."
Andrew Wyeth on Wikipedia
Thanks, Paul
This is a great video. Extremely inspiring. Great post.
ReplyDeleteFabulous! Wonderful! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post! I have admired Wyeth for years ever since a friend of mine loaned me the Helga pictures book, I was totally smitten by the beauty of them and I love his other work for its simplicity of subject and the nature of the paintings. Thanks for putting up this lovely inspirational video!
ReplyDeleteTwo great quotes from other interviews with Andy Wyeth:
ReplyDelete"I prefer winter and fall, when you can feel the bone structure in the landscape---the lonliness of it---the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it---the whole story doesn't show."
— Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth, commented on his teacher's view of this criticism during an interview with Brian Sherwin in 2008: "People only make you swerve. I won’t show anybody anything I’m working on. If they hate it, it’s a bad thing, and if they like it, it’s a bad thing. An artist has to be ingrown to be any good."[25] N.C. advised Wyeth to work from one's own perspective and imagination; to work for "effect" means the artist is not fully exploring their artistic abilities and as a result the artist will not realize their potential.
Thanks for posting this, don't believe I ever saw this. I discovered his work in a Life magazine article while in school in the sixties. His work was not highly thought of in Universities and the Art Establishment. I have collected many books about Wyeth and have only seen one original. His work speaks to me on a much deeper level than the academic things that go into a good painting.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It always gives me goose bumps to hear Wyeth speak. The man was entirely integral to the work he created.
ReplyDeleteWonderfully inspiring video link James. Thank you for sharing. hugs, Glenn :)
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky enough to have a huge collection of his stuff at my local museum in Greenville, SC. I grew up with it. The textures he achieves with watercolor are amazing in person.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky enough to have a huge collection of his stuff at my local museum in Greenville, SC. I grew up with it. The textures he achieves with watercolor are amazing in person.
ReplyDelete