Andrew
Wyeth (1917- ), American painter, noted for his interpretations of the people
and the austere rural landscapes of Pennsylvania and Maine. He was born in Chadds
Ford, Pennsylvania, and was trained by his father, the illustrator and muralist
Newell Convers Wyeth. Andrew Wyeth held his first one-man show at the age of
20 and scored an immediate success. His media are chiefly watercolor and tempera;
his colors are predominantly subtle shades of brown and gray. In his compositions
he displays technical brilliance, realism, and affection for his subjects. One
of Wyeth's best-known works is Christina's World. Perhaps the most popular painter
of his day, he received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, and
in 1970 he became the first living artist to be accorded an exhibition in the
White House.
