The "The Wyeth Family Dynasty Of Nearby Chadds Ford" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Heading to the Philadelphia Airport on PA Route 1 when Carol and I passed the township known as Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania where the largest land battle of the American Revolution was fought along the Brandywine Creek.  Have traveled to the battlefield a few times in the past, but I know the area better as the home of the Wyeth family.  Since I work part-time at Grebinger Gallery and Framing in Lancaster, PA I get to mat and frame a few Wyeth prints a year.  I don't believe I have ever framed an original Wyeth, but the prints are still remarkable.  

N.C. Wyeth

The family is just as interesting as their artwork.  Newell Covers Wyeth, known as N.C. Wyeth was known primarily as an illustrator and was the founding father of the family.  He has an interesting and rather bizarre story connected to him.  He suffered with depression throughout his life and died in 1945 at the age of 63 in an automobile accident.  He and his grandson were killed instantly by a freight train when it rammed into his car about a mile from his home in Chadds Ford.  But, many believe he committed suicide by stopping his car on the track in front of the train.  And, his grandson was said to actually be his son through an extramarital affair he was having with his son Nat's wife Caroline.  His fantastic illustrations weren't enough for him, since what he really wanted was to be known as an easel painter.  

One of N.C.'s illustrations.

He was friends with both politicians and Hollywood celebrities, but that still didn't satisfy his longing to be recognized as a genuine artist.  N.C.'s son Nat, known as the Wyeth who didn't paint, also committed suicide in a car accident in 1954.  Perhaps my favorite Wyeth artist was Andrew, son of N.C. and Carolyn.  He first painted with watercolor but eventually adopted tempera.  At the age of 19 he had his first showing at the Art Alliance of Philadelphia and had his first one-man show the following year at New York City's Macbeth Gallery where he sold all his pieces.  

Andrew Wyeth

His 1948 work, "Christina's World brought him accolades for his work.  He was well known for his landscapes as well as portrai- tures.  Many of his paintings were done in the locales surrounding his neighborhood.   In 1963 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and later received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990 from President George H.W. Bush.  

One of his most famous works titled "Christina's World"

He died in 2009 at Chadds Ford.  The third Wyeth artist was James Wyeth, second child of Andrew and Betsy who was born in 1946.  He was the grandson of N.C. Wyeth and was raised in Chadds Ford.  He followed in his father's footsteps with much the same influences his father had.  

Jamie Wyeth

At the age of 12 he studied with his aunt Carolyn who resided at the N.C. Wyeth House and Studio and was filled with the artwork of his grand- father.  He too worked in watercolor, but with more vivid colors.  In his late teens he painted side-by-side with his father.  At the age of 19 he traveled to New York City to study the artistic resources of the city and learn human anatomy at the city morgue.  He married Phyllis Mills who was one of his models.  

Jamie Wyeth's "And then into the deep gorge"

Jamie, as he was known, had his first exhibit in New York in 1965, but his reviews weren't very positive.  Jamie's works are in the collections of the Brandywine River Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  He holds an honorary degree from Elizabethtown College which is a few miles from my home in Lancaster, PA.  Jamie now lives in Delaware.  I have matted and framed quite a few of Andrew's works, but not any of Jamie's work.  The family certainly is a talented group of artists.  Jamie is still living and spends his time between his homes in Maine and Chadds Ford.  His wife recently died this past January.  Many families have become famous, but none that I can think of that have had three generations as famous as the Wyeth family.  I look forward to matting and framing more of the Wyeth family work in the future.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.