Jamie Wyeth "Kleberg"

From: Denver Art Museum
Limited Edition: 35
Exhibition: Wyeth: Andrew and Jamie in the Studio
Material: Printed 2-ply vinyl
Dimensions: 30" x 89" (76cm x 226cm)

Hanging Hardware Included

Summary

Jamie Wyeth let the Denver arts community in on a little known fact about his father, Andrew. Jamie described the iconic 20th century artist as a "wild painter" who "threw paint around, turned things upside down, stepped on things and ripped things." The more common notion is that Andrew worked in a very controlled manner adhering strictly to a realist style with his precision portraits of melancholy subjects while his contemporaries turned towards abstraction. Jamie added that his father’s paintings still resonate "because there's an energy in them that you don't get from most realists." Jamie was attracted to the Denver Art Museum’s exhibition because its working title was "Messy Paintings." The exhibition was eventually titled Wyeth: Andrew and Jamie in the Studio and it revealed Andrew’s more adventurous side paired with diverse works painted by Jamie.

Description

We are also pleased to offer original signed versions of this banner.

In curating Wyeth: Andrew and Jamie in the Studio, Timothy Standring of the Denver Art Museum exposed a groundbreaking view of the father and son's shared artistic habits of mind. Over the years, their styles and inspirations converged and diverged as they shared studio space and spoke frankly about each other's work. While Andrew's main medium was egg tempura and Jamie preferred oils, they shared a love for similar subjects: the animals, people, buildings, and landscapes of the places they called home, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and parts of Maine.

Of the more than 100 works exhibited -- pen and ink, graphite, chalk, watercolor, dry brush, tempera, oil, and mixed media -- many of the works had never been seen west of the Mississippi, and in some cases, anywhere. Among the exhibition's highlights were preliminary studies of Andrew's most well-known painting, Christina's World. His wife Betsy introduced him to her friend Christina Olson who, as a symbol of "old Maine," sat as a model for many of Andrew's paintings. Also included in the exhibition were studies of Jamie's Inferno and Seven Deadly Sins. These two main bodies of work include expressive seagulls replete with rich brushstrokes for texture and varnish for sheen.

Painted in 1984 by Jamie, a portion of Kleberg was featured on the banner used to promote the Denver exhibition. Inspired by Petey from The Little Rascals, Jamie painted a black circle around the eye of his yellow lab, Kleberg, one day when he wandered up to the easel. Kleberg and his endearing circled eye, which was touched up with mustache dye throughout his life, was the subject for many studies and paintings. In the full painting, the dog shares the canvas with a beehive basket and some of the artist’s favorite books on the shelves in the background. The book titles include Treasure Island, illustrated by his grandfather, N.C. Wyeth, and The Stray, written by his mother, Betsy, and illustrated by him.

"Wyeth" appears at the top of the banner in white capital letters on a yellow band with the dog portion of Kleberg front and center. The Denver Art Museum logo is on a royal blue background at the bottom. Both sides of the banner are identical.

Provenance

This banner was displayed around the Denver area between November 8, 2015 and February 7, 2016. A portion of the exhibition traveled to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain following its close at the Denver Museum of Art. 

About the Artist

Learn more about Jamie Wyeth