Andrew Wyeth is one of America’s most well-known artists. His pictures have been said to truly represent our country, not only because he is an American, but because all of his works depict locations in America. There are many art lovers and students who are enthralled by Wyeth’s works, but how many really understand it? That depends on who you ask. Some art historians believe that despite his reputation as being an “all American” painter, his work really does not represent the life of most Americans, but rather memories of the way they wish they could still live, as discussed in “The Ghosts of Andrew Wyeth: The Meaning of Death in the Transcendental Myth of America”. Other historians do not question how American the paintings are, but how well they are appreciated by the American public as in “Andrew Wyeth and the Transcendental Tradition”. Both of these ideas question the simplicity and universality that most audiences love about Wyeth’s work, but at the same time these studies help create a deeper understanding which can lead to further appreciation. One article focuses in on the more ‘American’ feeling that Wyeth’s paintings provide for his audience, while the other focuses more on who affected Wyeth and his work.
All of Andrew Wyeth’s paintings were of people and places in Maine and Pennsylvania. This instantly creates alienation of the other 48 states of the union; no two states look completely alike. More importantly though the ideologies that are so dispersed in our country are not represented through these limited scopes. People in the south, Midwest and pacific regions have very different ideas on how to best live their lives. Region is one of the starkest ways in which Americans are divided and the differences between the regions constantly and consistently show themselves. The quaint images depicted are not ones that would seem out of place in some parts of the northeast, especially in the past, but even long ago there were no such sights to be seen out in California. Many people are unable to correctly identify why they like Wyeths’ so much. While they think they are admiring his ability to capture American life, they really enjoy his representation of the way life in some parts of America USED to be. These people are longing for ‘simpler more carefree’ times and see what they want to in Wyeth’s paintings.
The second article focuses in on Wyeth’s inspirations in the literary world. This author equates Wyeth with transcendentalist authors such as Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists believe that human intuition holds many answers, more in fact than can be provided through science and empirical thought. This would lead one to believe that Wyeth’s paintings are indeed more simplistic and tied up in the old ways of the world. Emerson and Thoreau wrote of going into the woods to think and lose themselves, and the suggestion is there that that is what Wyeth was trying to accomplish through his art. He was not trying to give Americans a view of themselves but rather to create an escape for himself. While this does not contradict the first article, it looks at it from the causal point of view instead of the effect. Wyeth’s art is an opportunity for him to let his intuition and thoughts flow without being held down by the weights and limitations of what science says to be real. However it is also discussed how this individual thoughtful drive behind the paintings is hard to explain. Again because Americans are so wrapped up in interpreting things the way that suits them best, they search for a deeper American meaning that isn’t there. Ironically, Wyeth is enforcing one of the most American ideals of all, individualism, not searching for the best way to represent the spirit of America.
