Jesus Holding the Constitution

Impressive Christianist realism.

Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth, probably the most renowned painter in the United States, died Friday at his home in Chadds Ford, Pa. He was 91.

Last Saturday in Scottsdale, we saw a collection of Wyeth's works at a local gallery. The paintings sold for as high as $60,000. But there were pencil sketches that went for considerably less. With the exception of "Helga", all of Andrew's models have since died.

Having grown up in Bucks County, near Philadelphia, I experienced some of the same country life that Andrew illustrated at Chadds Fords. I admire his picture for his technical skill. I think Andrew superbly captures the mood of the Pennslvania country in many of his painting, with its frosty three in the afternoon late fall or early spring textures, lights, and colors. But his painting lack the humor and humanity that animates the illustrations of two of my other favorite Americans artists, Maxwell Parrish and Norman Rockwell.

A good example of Andrew's work is "Pennsylvania Landscape", painted in tempera on panel in 1942.

Great American Artists: Parrish and McCay

As a teenager, I loved to draw, even making the mistake of taking geo-trig thinking it would be yet one more sketching class. When I had kids and when I was waiting for my wife to finish shopping, I continued to draw-- everything and anything. Here is a typical sketch to illustrate a book I wrote for my toddlers.

When I travel, I always have my journal and a handful of colored pencils. I find that drawing helps me to not just see but really observe the minutia of every day life, to separate what I see from symbolic thought to what really is, at least as it appears in my mind's eye. Drawings are more interesting than photographs, because the mind edits or accents details that emotionally resonate.

All art interests me, but I especially like the French impressionists of the late 19th century. Of American art, I like Maxwell Parrish's use of color and Winsor McCay's talent for realism and perspective.

A Methodist Horse Thief

Here is the president's favorite painting.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2250558,00.html






Bush has a great passion for a 1916 cowboy scene by WHD Koerner that hangs in his office. He told staff that the painting was called A Charge To Keep, a quote from his favourite Methodist hymn by Charles Wesley. He urged them to absorb the moral lesson of this "beautiful painting of a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail. This is us," he said. But the picture originally portrayed a bad man, not a good man. It was first used in the Saturday Evening Post in 1916 to illustrate a story about a horse thief, and was captioned as a picture of his flight from the law.

A Rose Is A Rose

My boy created this design from a picture of a rose. I thought it was pretty.