Andrew Wyeth Biography for Kids
Hello there. My name is Andrew Wyeth.
I was born in 1917 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, the youngest of five children.
I was raised in a family dedicated to art. My father was a famous painter and illustrator of children’s books. Perhaps you’ve read one of the books N.C. Wyeth, my father, illustrated, like The Pilgrims, Treasure Island, or Kidnapped.
My brothers and sisters became artists, engineers, and musicians, and a generation later my son, Jamie, has become an important artist. I guess you could say that art runs in the family!
Because of my delicate health as a child, I was homeschooled. My father was my only teacher, and of course, he gave me the only art lessons I ever had. I studied the Renaissance artists and American painters and learned to illustrate stories like my father, but I did not enjoy this. I led a very family-focused sheltered life and enjoyed reading Robert Frost’s poetry and Henry David Thoreau. We also enjoyed nature.
I am primarily a realist painter and am sometimes referred to as the “Painter of the People” due to my work’s popularity with the American public.
In my paintings, my favorite subjects are the land and people around me, both in my hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and at my summer home in Cushing, Maine. Many of my paintings are of simple scenes like a view of a man’s boots trodding the grass…
…a lace curtain blowing in the breeze…
…an abandoned row boat…
…or a road with a car and a farm in the distance.
My paintings are very natural and detailed, often in watercolors or tempura paint. I use a lot browns, golds and greens, and I use light and shadow to draw my subjects out.
What can I really say? I paint my life!
My most famous painting is called Christina’s World. It shows a young woman, my neighbor Christina Olson in Cushing, Maine in a field looking toward her house. She was crippled, and I saw her crawling across the field, so it inspired my painting.
I did not get into Pop Art or Abstract Expressionism, which became popular during my lifetime. I stayed with Realism.
In 2007, President George Bush awarded me with the National Medal of Arts, and I am one of the most popular American painters of the twentieth century. You can see my art in most of the large art museums in the United States, such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Modern Museum of Art in New York or at Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania where you can also visit my father’s house and studio and my home and studio.
Here’s what you should remember about me:
I am Andrew Wyeth.
I lived from 1917 to 2009.
I am a known as a Realistic painter of the land and people around me and am called the “Painter of the People.”
I like to use watercolors and tempera paint.
I am one of most famous American artists of 20th century.
Investigate the life and art works of Andrew Wyeth in this artist unit study!
Watch the video about me too!
