Andrew Wyeth

Arts & Letters Daily has an item announcing the death of Andrew Wyeth (the link goes to the New York Times obit). This is noteworthy to me because he’s one of a very few artists whose work (in poster form) has ever hung on my wall. Specifically, this painting, titled “Soaring”:

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I picked it up at a poster sale when I was in college, because I needed something to cover the institutional grey wallpaper in my dorm room, and I wanted something different from the standard-issue Dali posters. I liked the general look, but what sold me on it was realizing that the birds in the picture are vultures (not eagles, hawks, or falcons, as the site I grabbed the image from tries to claim). That tells you something about Wyeth, though I think it probably says more about me.

I was surprised to learn of his death, in that “I thought he died years ago” way that happens with a lot of famous people who aren’t frequently in the news. The Times says he was 91, so he certainly had a good run. I liked what I’ve seen of his work, which is unusual for a modern artist. The poster got lost a couple of moves ago, but I still like the painting, hence this tribute post.