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| Andrew Wyeth Painting |
Andrew Wyeth – American
Master Artist (1917-2009)
He was the quintessential
example of a true American artistic genius. He was Andrew Wyeth, my favorite
American Artist.
When Andrew Wyeth died in
2009, he left behind a body of work that depicts a simpler, yet somewhat
complicated time in American History. He
wove together his love for the African American community over the hill from
his home, and the farming community just outside his doorstep.
Andrew’s disciplined artistic
journey began as a young boy and his respect for the human spirit never
wavered.
He is the only artist I’ve
ever known who was given unequivocal license to enter the homes of those he
knew. At any time of the day or night,
he would enter with canvas, brushes and paint, to render some of his most
haunting work of his subjects while they were sleeping, cooking, or just sitting
and looking out the window.
Several years ago, in
Atlanta, GA., The High Museum hosted an Andrew Wyeth exhibit that contained an
extraordinarily large body of his work.
Just viewing one of Andrew Wyeth’s emotionally charged paintings was
such a powerful experience that seeing such a large body of his work in one
place was almost overwhelming.
Andrew
Wyeth once said, “I search for the realness, the real feeling of a
subject, all the texture around it, I always want to see the third dimension of
something. I want to come alive with the
object.”
Andrew’s
desire was to capture a moment, not a frozen moment, but a fleeting
moment.
This is why I believe it's important, when painting from a photograph, to know the difference between a frozen moment and a fleeting moment and why if you're the one who took the photo, you'll have much more success rendering the feeling of what you're painting!
