Andrew Wyeth
 Andrew Wyeth was born in 1917 in Chadds Ford, PA. He still lives there in the winter, but summers in Cushing, ME. Andrew was a sickly, spindly boy who attended first grade for three months, when he discovered that school made him nervous—after which, he had home school. NC’s greatest gift was teaching his children how to recreate drama. NC built an immense castle for the children, which sits today in Andrew’s studio. Of his childhood, Andrew has said; “It was the most imaginative, rich childhood you could ever want. That is why I have so much inside of me to paint.” At the age of nine, Andrew did a book of watercolors called the Clang of Steel full of musketeers and damsels in distress. His only teacher was his father, who disciplined him in the technical skills of close observation. It is said that Andrew can tell the type of tree he’s near with his eyes closed, just by listening to the wind in its leaves.
At the age of 12, Andrew made a miniature theatre and players for a performance of Arthur Conan Doyle’s medieval romance, The White Company. At age the age of 15, Andrew was taken in as a full time pupil of NC. He sketched from casts, from models and from nature and became a draftsman of rare skill. At age 20, he had his first show in New York City, which sold out the second day. In 1939, at the age of 22, he met the woman he would marry, Betsy. In 1943, Andrew did an illustration for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. He earned $1,000.00 and wanted to take a contract with the magazine for more covers. His wife threatened to leave him, however, because she thought it would end his career. She then incorporated him as The Mill, Inc. and now the Mill pays him a salary. Evidently Betsy has quite an influence on Andrew, as she keeps the paintings she likes and manages his career.
It was at his father’s death that Andrew started to paint his surroundings. Wyeth is a realist rooted in the rural past of the nation. He catches the small but engrossing details of everyday existence. He keeps his color low-key and paints only those subjects which move him.
He does two or three paintings a year. His is a slow meticulous work done in egg tempera, a medium used in the 1400’s in Italy. This medium won’t fade or degenerate. Egg tempera appealed to Andrew precisely because it is slow and painstaking. He thought its capacity for minute detail would let him be more precise and reach deeper into what excited him to paint. Another technique employed by Andrew is dry brush. Here, the artist works over still wet washes of water soluble pigment with a brush dipped in concentrated color and squeezed almost dry. The stiff brush bristles, flattened and frayed looking, add textures of weight and depth.
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