Natural Selections: Andrew Wyeth Plant Studies exhibition on view now through February 7
Andrew Wyeth, Summer Freshet Study, 1942, drybrush, © Andrew Wyeth. Private Collection
A selection of Andrew Wyeth's watercolor and pencil studies that highlight the beauty and intricacy of nature's designs in fragmented views and isolated forms will be exhibited in Natural Selections: Andrew Wyeth Plant Studies at the Brandywine River Museum of Art, now through February 7.
Throughout his seven-decade career, Andrew Wyeth made numerous studies in preparation for his finely worked egg tempera paintings and drybrush watercolors. These preliminary works, such as Summer Freshet Study (1942), show keen observation and an almost scientific approach with which he described the character and quality of the forms. His extraordinary skill and investigative method drew upon the manner of European masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, artists Wyeth particularly admired.
Wyeth's studies also explore what he called his "messy" side. Drips, splatters, pools of color, jittery lines, scrapes, and scratches, and bravura brush strokes convey the expressive energy and emotion he felt towards the landscape and make his images come alive.
"These botanical studies, rarely on public view, demonstrate Andrew Wyeth's continual sense of discovery in exploring color and form and his abiding passion for nature," said Thomas Padon, director of the Brandywine River Museum of Art. "They offer a remarkable opportunity to discover the artist's creative process and his astute observations of nature's beauty."
Natural Selections: Andrew Wyeth Plant Studies will be on view through February 7, 2016. This is the second in a series of focused exhibitions at the Brandywine River Museum of Art on the work of Andrew Wyeth. These exhibitions complement the Andrew Wyeth gallery in which many iconic temperas and watercolors are shown.
About the Brandywine River Museum of Art
The Brandywine River Museum of Art features an outstanding collection of American art housed in a 19th-century mill building with a dramatic steel and glass addition overlooking the banks of the Brandywine River. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors ages 65 and over, $6 for students and children ages 6 and older; free for children 5 and younger and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art members. Museum admission is free on Sunday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to noon, through November 24, 2015. For more information, call 610.388.2700 or visit brandywine.org/museum.
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