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“Something Waits Beneath It” –
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March 29–July 16, 2006 GALLERY 16 “Something waits beneath it,” Wyeth said, speaking of his preference for the autumnal and wintry landscape. “The whole story doesn’t show.” This presence— animating Wyeth’s landscape, portraiture and studies of weathered architecture—inspired critics in 1943 to call the 26 year old painter a “magic realist.” Rendered in precise detail, his scenes nonetheless often harbor a spectral undertone. What “doesn’t show” may be the artist’s most enduring subject. “Something Waits Beneath It“ is an intimate exhibition of thirty-two early and seldom seen works by the young Andrew Wyeth, including watercolors and tempera paintings of coastal Maine and eastern Pennsylvania made from 1939 through the 1960s. Eleven illustrated letters, with eighteen watercolor and ink sketches, reveal the private observations of the artist—capturing glimpses of napping dogs, a bowl of holly, a near-by stream, a country kitchen. It is these very objects, animate and inanimate, that often disappear from finished paintings that provide the mystery infusing so much of Wyeth’s art. |
| Blue Door, 1952 Andrew Wyeth (born 1917) Watercolor on Paper Delaware Art Museum, Special Purchase Fund, 1952 © Andrew Wyeth |
While modest in scale, this exhibition is enriched by its context in the Delaware Art Museum that is known for its unrivaled collections of American art and illustration. These collections provide a frequent and on-going source of inspiration for Andrew Wyeth who can occasionally be found in the galleries gazing at favorite works by the great American painter and illustrator, Howard Pyle, among others. “One of my greatest pleasures,” says Executive Director Danielle Rice “is seeing artists studying the art in the Museum. Imagine my delight at knowing that we continue to be a source of inspiration for someone as accomplished, imaginative and thoughtful as Andrew Wyeth!”
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Drawn entirely from the permanent holdings of the Delaware Art Museum, this exhibition complements and coincides with Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic, on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Andrew Wyeth: Master Drawings from the Artist’s Collection featured at the Brandywine River Museum during the same time period. SPECIAL OFFER FOR We’ve made arrangements with the Philadelphia Museum of Art for Delaware Art Museum Members to receive two-for-one general admission to view their world-renowned collections from April 1 through September 30, 2006. Look for the coupon in your Exhibitions and Programs brochure and present it at any Visitor Services Desk when visiting. Toll Rope, 1951 |
Hussey’s House, 1942
Andrew Newell Wyeth (b. 1917)
Watercolor on paper, 7-1/4 x 14-3/4 inches
Delaware Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Phelps, 1964
© Andrew Wyeth
 Above: Tenant Farmer, 1961 Andrew Newell Wyeth (b. 1917) Tempera on Masonite, 30-1/2 x 40 inches Delaware Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Phelps, 1964 © Andrew Wyeth Right: Jamie in Coonskin Hat, c. 1952 Andrew Newell Wyeth (b. 1917) Watercolor and ink on paper, 9-7/8 x 7 inches Delaware Art Museum, Gift of Mary M. R. Phelps, 1968 © Andrew Wyeth |
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For more information on Andrew Wyeth, visit www.andrewwyeth.com.