thursday, December 4, 1975
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daily nebraskan
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Drawing of Phyllis, 1967
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Drawing of Andrew Wyeth, 1969
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Portrait of Lady, 1968
People are excited by the art of James Wyeth, who has 75 paintings and
drawings on exhibit at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha until Jan. 18.
Art critic Theodore Stebbins of Yale University, in a catalog published by
Joslyn, calls Wyeth "America's premiere portraitist ."
Wyeth, in a filmed interview being shown with his exhibit, said he was
happy to bring his work to the Midwest.
An Omaha art enthusiast was so excited by Wyeth's painting of a pig
that he wrote a letter to the Omaha World-Herald proclaiming the work "the
Mona Lisa of pigdom."
'Besides the artwork itself, which includes his self portrait, Pumpkinhead,
people are intrigued by the genealogy of James Wyeth. The Wyeth family
has long been described as the "dynasty of art families."
His father, Andrew Wyeth, is generally considered One of America's finest
artists. Andrew's father, N. C. Wyeth, was a famous painter and illustrator.
And James's aunts, Henriette and Caroline Wyeth, also are painters. ,
One of the paintings on exhibit in Omaha by 29-year-old James is
a portrait of his father. Stebbins writes that James "reaches deep into his
father's eyes and his person and produces one of the memorable portraits of
his time."
Wyeth' said he painted his father as he saw him: "a serious man."
But Wyeth said he doesn't believe in making deep interpretations of his
work.
"I find that if I start theorizing about painting it immediately freezes me,"
he said. "The painter should not intrude on what people want to feel about
the work." .
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Pumpkinhead, 1972
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Pig Drawing, 1969
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Study for Angus No. 2
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page 11