JAMIE WYETH - TALENT EXRAORDINAIRE!!

I was watching DOWNTON ABBEY recently and at the end of the show there was an interview with JAMIE WYETH (born in 1946), one of our local artists. He's has incredible talent and yes, he's the grandson of Illustrator N.C. WYETH and the son of world-renowned painter, ANDREW WYETH. There were other talented artists in the family as well, so what do you think? Does genetics have any influence on artistic talent??

Anyway, a few days later a friend mentioned on Facebook that he had been to the JAMIE WYETH EXHIBITION at the BRANDYWINE RIVER MUSEUM, which is only 30 minutes away. So I decided I should make a point of visiting.  I mentioned it my friend MERRY and before you know it, we set a date to go together. When we got there, Merry treated - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!

Because there were SO many wonderful paintings exhibited, I'm going to break this into 2 posts - this first one will share paintings from his earlier life (ages 13 - 32) and my next post will highlight later paintings.

Jamie asked his parents if he could be home-schooled and because of his interest and talent for painting, at age 11 he began spending 1/2 of each day painting with his talented Aunt Carolyn, ANDREW'S sister.

When I looked at this painting, "WEATHERVANE", that he completed in 1959 at age 13, I was astounded. It truly looked like an ANDREW WYETH painting. What do you think??

Take a look at what JAMIE then accomplished at age 17 - that's HIGH SCHOOL age!!! How is this possible?? I remember what I was doing at age 17 and it wasn't painting for half of the day....... nor was I developing any talent.  

This is a closeup of "SHORTY" their neighbor.

At age 19 he painted his father, "ANDREW WYETH".

His attention to detail is amazing.

REALISM?  YES!

One of my favorites over the years has always been "DRAFT AGE", a portrait of his closest childhood friend, Jimmy Lynch, who was inspired to arrive in this "Bad Boy" outfit after just watching Marlon Brando in the movie "The Wild One". Jamie painted this when he was only 19.

This was the first time that I saw "STUDY FOR DRAFT AGE" (1965 - age 19).

In 1967 (age 21) he painted "PORTRAIT OF JOHN F KENNEDY".

At age 29 he painted "THE ISLANDER" - a wild ram overlooking the coastline of Manana Island, next door to Monhegan Island, Maine, where he and his family spent much of their time.

He also loved to paint his wife, PHYLLIS, a champion equestrienne, who was paralyzed at age 21 in an auto accident.  She loved her horses!  

"AND THEN INTO THE DEEP GORGE" was painted when Jamie was 29 years old - his first finished portrait of Phyllis with her pony cart and two Welsh ponies . Animals and people - realism one in the same.

I'll end this post with my friend Merry looking at "WHALE" (the whale's jawbone hangs above Phyllis) painted in 1978 at the age of 32.  

A closeup of Phyllis in her 19th-century dress and boots. We both loved her clothing and shoes/boots!

Stay tuned for JAMIE WYETH'S later paintings, which will not disappoint. I particularly enjoyed the paintings of his good friend ANDY WARHOL, which I will share.

Joan