Henriette Wyeth, born in Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania, was the oldest child of the famous artist and illustrator Newell Convers Wyeth. At age eleven, she began to study with her father even though her right hand had been crippled by polio. She learned a technique of holding the brush between her first and second fingers and was an accomplished portratist even as a teenager. She continued her formal training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Henriette vowed never to marry a painter, but she fell in love with Peter Hurd, a handsome young artist from New Mexico who had come to Chadd’s Ford to study with her father. They were married in 1929 and eventually moved to the Sentinel Ranch in San Patricio, New Mexico, to raise a family and pursue their painting careers. Henriette loved the New Mexico landscape and simple architecture. She continued her painting and the Wyeth Hurd home became a mecca for many famous people who sat for portraits, played polo or simply enjoyed the company of their hosts. Among the notable portrait commissions were Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III, Pat Nixon, and Helen Hayes.
Henriette Wyeth, born in Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania, was the oldest child of the famous artist and illustrator Newell Convers Wyeth. At age eleven, she began to study with her father even though her right hand had been crippled by polio. She learned a technique of holding the brush between her first and second fingers and was an accomplished portratist even as a teenager. She continued her formal training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.