Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect

This summer, the Brandywine River Museum of Art will open Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect, the first major survey of the artist’s work in more than 40 years. The exhibition will feature more than 100 of his finest works, spanning his entire career: from the early watercolors that established his reputation to his final painting, Goodbye, completed just a few months before his death in 2009.

The show will also include many of Wyeth’s studies, which were rarely exhibited in the artist’s lifetime, and offer new insights into his creative process and approach. Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect commemorates the centennial of the artist’s birth and provides the most in-depth presentation of his diverse and prolific practice to date, drawing from works in private collections and major museums.

Spanning two centuries, Wyeth’s life and work extended from World War I—a period that sparked the imagination of the artist as a young boy—to the new millennium (1917–2009). The exhibition examines four major periods in Wyeth’s career and offers new interpretations of his work, including the less explored influences of popular film and images of war, and looks more closely at the relatively unstudied but numerous portrayals of African Americans from the Chadds Ford community.

Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect also provides a thorough comparison of Wyeth’s widely divergent approaches to watercolor—which inspired him to paint quickly and at times with abandon—and tempera, a more controlled medium, in which he slowly and deliberately built up layers of paint on panels.

As part of the centennial events, the United States Postal Service will issue a pane of stamps this summer inspired by the art of Andrew Wyeth. The official dedication ceremony for the stamps will take place at the Brandywine River Museum of Art on Wednesday, July 12, at 11 a.m., 100 years to the day that Andrew Wyeth was born.

Stamps and related products will be available for sale. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. to purchase stamps and visit the Museum. The event is free and open to the public. Please note that seating is limited, with ample standing room.

Mark your calendar this summer to visit the exhibition and revisit this Brandywine Valley artist’s contributions to 20th century American art.

~ Hillary Holland

If You Go:

Where:
Brandywine River Museum of Art,
1 Hoffman’s Mill Rd., Chadds Ford,
610-388-2700; Brandywine.org

When:    
June 24–September 17, 2017

Hours:   
Daily, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission:
$6–$15