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Unique Force: The Art of Carolyn Wyeth

January 24 - March 15, 2009

The Brandywine River Museum presents Unique Force: The Art of Carolyn Wyeth, featuring over 40 paintings and drawings that relate to all aspects of her career. It also includes many fascinating portraits of her by family members, including her brother, Andrew Wyeth. On view from January 24 to March 15, 2009, this is the first exhibition of her work in 30 years. (right: Carolyn Wyeth, 1979. Photo by Rusty Kennedy) 

Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994), painter and daughter of the illustrator N. C. Wyeth, grew up in a family of artists. She was known for her feisty, no-nonsense demeanor, yet this hard edge veiled a sensitive soul. Her paintings appear very straightforward and bold yet reveal intensely personal perspectives and perceptions.

As with her father, N.C. Wyeth, and especially her brother Andrew, Carolyn's life and art drew sustenance from her immediate surroundings and memories. Her paintings reconstruct private moments from the past and often evoke an air of romance, remembrance and loss. Her subjects are often her immediate surroundings, such as a chair, a pumpkin, props from the studio, or the woods and fields near her home. She usually produced only three or four paintings per year, did little to promote her work, and exhibited infrequently. Until late in life, she did not even always sign her paintings.

Carolyn Wyeth began her artistic training with her father at the age of 12. N.C. Wyeth gave his children solid grounding in drawing, insisting that charcoal studies of cubes, pyramids, and plaster casts be mastered before touching a brush. However, as the family rebel and non-conformer, Carolyn balked at N.C.'s rules and expectations, and painted as she pleased. As she matured, his advice to know and feel subjects deeply and to put that experience in her work became her guiding principal.

By her early 20s, Carolyn Wyeth found her own mode of expression and won exhibition awards and accolades. In the early 1940s, she began to teach painting both in Chadds Ford and, during summers, in Maine. She taught for over 30 years, and her devoted students included her nephew Jamie Wyeth.

Carolyn Wyeth lived out her days at the family home and studio in Chadds Ford. It was there that she found both inspiration for her art and the solitude she sought to create it. Ultimately, she cared nothing about innovation or competition in the world of art. Painting soothed her "wild" side and gave coherence to her emotions. The aesthetic qualities -- strength of design, boldness of color, and subtle emotional tenor -- in her paintings have been nationally recognized by critics and museums. Carolyn Wyeth's unique works are a vital part of the Wyeth family and of art history in the Brandywine Valley.

 

(above: Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994), Spare Room, 1978, Oil on canvas, 31 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches. Private Collection)

 


Exhibition checklist

Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Blackberries, 1968
Oil on canvas, 33 _ x 27 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
The Cabbage, 1944
Oil on canvas, 24 _ x 26 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Anonymous Gift, 1997
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Chicken House, 1967
Oil on canvas, 19 _ x 22 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Dark Shore, 1933
Oil on canvas, 26 _ x 35 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Deep Summer (II), ca. 1956
Oil on canvas, 40 _ x 30 3/8"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1970
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Mask of Keats, circa 1940
Oil on canvas, 38 _ x 43 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Museum Purchase, 2003
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Mason Jar, ca. 1953
Oil on canvas, 22 1/8 x 36 1/8"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Open Window, 1944
Oil on canvas, 25 x 36"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Carolyn Wyeth, 1979, in memory of L. Arnold
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Up from the Woods, 1974
Oil on canvas, 27 _ x 33 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Museum Purchase, 1984
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Still life with Pyramid and Mug, circa 1925
Charcoal on paper, 9 x 13'
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Betsy's Pumpkin, 1935
Oil on canvas, 31 3/8 x 39 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Shostakovich, ca. 1935
Oil on canvas
Unpublished cover design for an audio recording
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Museum Purchase, 2007
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
The Rail Pile, 1945
Oil on canvas, 27 x 27"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Emmeline. B. McIlvain, 2006
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Ridge Church, 1937
Oil on canvas, 25 _ x 30 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
N.C. Wyeth's Barn, 1974
Oil on canvas, 27 _ x 31 1/2
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Study of a Horse, circa 1925
Graphite on paper, 8 _ x 11 7/8"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Study of Two Horses, circa 1925
Graphite on paper, 8 _ x 12"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Study of a Horse's Head, circa 1925
Graphite on paper, 10 3/8 x 7 7/8"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
A Stand of Fir Trees,
Oil on canvas, 30 x 36
Coll. of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Bottle, circa 1924
Charcoal on paper
Coll. of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Brown Bottle, 1946
Oil on canvas
Coll. of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Death Mask of Keats, circa 1940
Oil on canvas, approximately 33 x 40"
Coll. of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Dodo, circa 1930
Oil on canvas, 32 x 32"
Coll. of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Princess's Room, 1979
Oil on canvas, 36 x 30
Coll. of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
The Stool, circa 1960
Oil on canvas, 18 _ x 22 _
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Ludwig van Beethoven, circa 1920
Pencil on paper, 22 _ x 16 _
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Black-Eyed Susans, 1935
Oil on canvas, 38 x 1/8 x 32"
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Black Pony, circa 1925
Oil on canvas, 34 _ x 34 1/8"
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Black Spruce, 1974
Oil on canvas, 28 x 34"
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Spare Room, 1978
Oil on canvas, 31 _ x 27 _"
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Snake Fence, not dated
Oil on canvas, 22 _ x 30 _"
Coll. of Richard A. McLellan
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Chadds Ford, circa 1960
Oil on canvas, 48 x 31"
Coll. of Delaware Art Museum, Anonymous Gift, 1961
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Dogwood Branch, circa 1927
Oil on canvas, 25 x 25"
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Cow Corn, 1961
Oil on canvas, 37 x 39"
Coll. of Chadds Ford Elementary School
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Lighthouse, 1933
Oil on canvas, 36 _ x 36"
Private Coll.
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Husky's Porch, 1976
Oil on canvas, 28 x 34 _"
Coll. of Dr. Charles B. Blackshear, MD, and Lawrence Rick Campanelli, Esq.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
The Apple Tree, 1949
Oil on canvas, 31 x 32"
Coll. of Charles B. Blackshear, MD and Lawrence Rick Campanelli, Esq.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Still Life with Lily in the Studio, 1940
Oil on canvas
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
The Jones House, 1937
Oil on canvas,
Coll. of Somerville-Manning Gallery,
Greenville, Delaware
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Still Life with Jug and Bowl, circa 1930
Oil on canvas,
Coll. of Somerville-Manning Gallery,
Greenville, Delaware
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Untitled (flowers in a green vase), before 1939
Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 28 _
Private Coll.
 
Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994)
Untitled (house and road in Maine), circa 1940
Oil on canvas, 30 x 24
Private Coll.
Portraits of Carolyn
 
N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
Portrait of Carolyn, 1925
Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 1/8"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
 
N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
Portrait of Carolyn, no date
Pencil on paper, 9 x 7"
Coll. of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth
 
Henriette Wyeth (1907-1997)
Portrait of Carolyn, circa 1925
Oil on canvas, approx. 22 x 22"
Private Coll.
 
Henriette Wyeth (1907-1997)
Portrait of Carolyn Wyeth, circa 1925
Oil on canvas, 24 _ x 19 _"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
 
Henriette Wyeth (1907-1997)
Portrait of Carolyn, 1931
Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 28 _"
30 1/8 x 28 _
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
 
Andrew Wyeth (b. 1917)
Carolyn in the Orchard, 1964
Watercolor on paper, 21 x 29
Coll. of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth
 
Andrew Wyeth (b.1917)
Bird's Nest, 1982
Drybrush watercolor on paper
Brandywine River Museum, Anonymous Gift, 2000
 
Andrew Wyeth (b. 1917)
The Critic, 1990
Watercolor on paper, 25 _ x 29 _"
Brandywine River Museum, The Caroline Gussman Keller Fund,
The Claniel Art Acquisition Fund, The Museum Voluneteers' Purchase Fund, 1990
 
Frank Delle Donne (1919-2007)
Portrait of Carolyn, circa 1940
Pencil on paper, 16 x 12 5/8" (sight)
Bequest of Frank Delle Donne
 
Karl Kuerner (b. 1957)
Miss Wyeth, 1981
Acrylic on board, 29 x 29"
Coll. of Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wyeth, 1985


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