Wyeth's Interiors

(c) Andrew Wyeth

I was recently in New England, and had the chance to visit the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine. The museum has an extensive collection of works by Andrew Wyeth. I always think of Wyeth as a Pennsylvania artist, but he also spent his summers in Maine and did some beautiful work there. 

"Her Room"
 (c) Andrew Wyeth

Visiting the museum, I was reminded of Wyeth's evocative interior paintings. I don't know why I haven't thought of them before, in all of my posts about interiors! Far from the lush, inviting rooms that many painters choose to paint, Wyeth's rooms are stark. They seem to

have a deserted, desiccated look. But boy, can he capture the light! I love the simplicity of his rooms, and the elegance of a swath of sunlight across a wall, or on the floor. In the top two images, light is almost the only furnishing in the room.

"The Big Room"
(c) Andrew Wyeth

There is something very haunting about Wyeth's interiors. They are clearly very personal, very familiar places, and intensely observed. In fact, Wyeth said "My God, when you really begin to peer into something, a simple object, and realize the profound meaning of that thing--if you have an emotion about it, there's no end." Clearly, Wyeth knew a thing or two about SEEING.

The painting above of "The Big Room", seems to be an exception among Wyeth's interiors. Most of them are focused on a narrow slice of the room, and a single object or two. They can seem more like still lifes than interiors. And they are very "still" indeed. The stillness is enhanced by use of a very subtle, subdued color palette. Critics have often panned these "muddy" colors, but I think they are appropriate to the subject. It is amazing what Wyeth accomplished within such a narrow range of color.

"Crossed Swords"
(c) Andrew Wyeth

A note on materials: Wyeth typically painted with egg tempera paints, rather than oil paints. Egg tempera is made by mixing pigments into an egg yolk binder. It was the primary painting material before the mid-1500's, when oil paints were introduced. (I have a friend who tried egg tempera, and reported that the mixture attracted bugs---ugh!!) Wyeth also tended to paint on wood, rather than on canvas. 

Next year is the 100th anniversary of Andrew Wyeth's birth, and the Brandywine Museum of Art will be mounting a major retrospective of his work. Not to be missed by fans!

(c) Lesley Powell 2016

I am closing with two photographs I took this month in Maine--very Wyeth-esque, if I do say so myself. Here is proof that such spots still exist in the 21st century. This is an old structure on Swann Island, a Wildlife Management area in Coastal Maine. I'm glad that these places are being preserved for future generations.

(c) Lesley Powell 2016