I have lived near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, home to the Wyeth Family for most of my life. To me, Andrew Wyeth was always a local artist. I am very familiar with his work from many visits to the Brandywine River Museum. Since June 2012, the family has graciously allowed his studio to be open to the public on a limited reservation system. Sadly, no interior photos are permitted.
Andrew Wyeth painted for most of his life near his
childhood home in an old nineteenth century schoolhouse that was originally
purchased by his father, illustrator and painter NC Wyeth. Andrew’s older
sister Henriette and her husband, painter Peter Hurd, lived there for a time when
they were first married. Later the schoolhouse was remodeled by Andrew and his
wife Betsy for their growing family by adding a kitchen and bedrooms. They
lived there as newlyweds in 1940 and later with their two sons Nicholas and Jamie until 1961 when the family moved to a nearby farm. Andrew
reclaimed the schoolhouse as his studio and continued to paint there until his
death in 2009.
Andrew Wyeth was a fiercely independent painter in that he
isn't associated with a particular school or movement and yet achieved notoriety
outside of the NY Gallery system. He was taught by his father, NC Wyeth
who had made his living from book illustrations, a form of commercial
art, but had yearned for the freedom to be a fine painter. As a child,
Andrew was encouraged and given the instruction to develop his talent and to
paint with his own voice. His body of work is comprised of the natural
landscape of the Brandywine River region in southeastern, PA as well as his
summer home on the Maine coast along with a small group of local folks who
appear again and again. One can see that the work is deeply personal and meaningful to
him-- the viewer is left to discern the significance of the moment.
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| Studio of Andrew Wyeth, Chadds Ford, PA ©Mimi Favre |
The docent brought me (yes me--I was the only visitor) into the newer section of the building. She pointed out the kitchen (circa 1940's Colonial) filled with Betsy Wyeth’s cookbooks and noted a space above the large
fireplace where he would hang newly finished work. The walls are filled with family photo's with a few celebrities, like silent film stars, mixed in.
The original schoolroom was divided long ago by NC. On one side bookcases are
filled with art books on Albrect Durer, Old Masters, Edward Hopper, Curtis photographs
and catalogues of past exhibitions. The other side which was the family’s
living room is set up as Jamie Wyeth's studio. It is here that he painted Draft Age. On a set of shelves is Andrew's armies of small soldiers and military
figures which he began to collect as a child
and continued throughout his life. German military helmets line the top of a
large wooden Kas.
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| Studio of Andrew Wyeth, Chadds Ford, PA ©Mimi Favre |
The studio is locked. It felt a bit strange to step
inside. No longer a living artist’s space, I felt nonetheless that I was
entering as an uninvited guest. Afterall, he worked in this space for more than 60 years.
The images of all of the Wyeth paintings I have seen,
knowing as only an outsider could of some of the controversial nude paintings
and other work that was done in such secrecy, I felt like an intruder. The
docent assured me that Mr. Wyeth agreed to open his studio. Sketches (facsimilles) are strewn
about but I know that it is in private moments, over time, in thought, that
compositions are worked out. A large freestanding mirror is positioned so that the
work can be viewed in full or rotated in the reflection. This was a method to
critique the lights and darks and overall compostion.
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| Studio of Andrew Wyeth, Chadds Ford, PA ©Mimi Favre |
The studio space has huge windows that face North, paint
is peeling off the walls and the ceiling has been plastered and restored to
look as it did before necessary restoration and repairs. Jars of pigment line
the window sill. Empty pans and egg cartons remind us that Andrew Wyeth was a
master of egg tempera. Uncut gessoed mason board lines the walls. A few old
military coats hang about. This once personal private workspace is now a museum. The artist has left the room.
