Betsy wyeth
Betsy Wyeth
American author and collector
Betsy James Wyeth | |
|---|---|
| Born | Betsy Merle James ()September 26, East Aurora, New York |
| Died | April 21, () (aged&#;98) Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania |
| Resting place | Hathorn Cemetery, Cushing, Maine |
| Education | Colby Sawyer College, University of Chicago, B.A. |
| Occupation(s) | Author, art collector, business manager, archivist |
| Organization | Wyeth Foundation for American Art |
| Spouse | Andrew Wyeth (married 15 May ) |
| Children | 2 (Nicholas Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth) |
Betsy James Wyeth (née Betsy MerleJames; 26 September [1] - 21 April )[2] was an author and art collector.
She was also the business manager and archivist of her husband, artist Andrew Wyeth.[1]
Early life
Betsy Merle James was born on 26 September in East Aurora, New York.[2] She was the youngest of three daughters born to Elizabeth Browning, a graduate of Cornell and teacher of Latin, and Merle Davis James, an artist and printer.[1][2]
She attended Colby Junior College, before transferring to the University of Chicago, where she studied archaeology.[2] In , aged 17, she met 22 year old Andrew Wyeth.[2] They became engaged within a week of meeting, and married on 15 May [2][1] They settled in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.[2] The couple had two sons, Nicholas and Jamie.[2]
Artistic collaboration
Prior to their marriage, Betsy introduced Andrew Wyeth to the Olsons, a brother and sister.[2] Anna Christina Olson, paralyzed from the waist down, became the subject of one of Andrew Wyeth's best known works, titled Christina's World by Betsy.[2][3] Their son, Jamie, later said "I always felt her signature should be alongside his."[2] Andrew Wyeth said of his wife that she "made me into a painter I would not have been otherwise".[2]
Betsy Wyeth became her husband's business manager, negotiating commissions, organizing shows, and maintaining his catalogue raisonné.[2] She described her role as like that of a film director.[2] She also regularly modelled for her husband, and was the subject of the portrait Maga’s Daughter.[2]
Betsy Wyeth collected the letters of her father-in-law into a book, The Wyeths: The Letters of N.C.
Wyeth, .[2][4] An artist like his son, the book helped to catalyze a reassessment of his career.[1] She wrote two books on Andrew Wyeth's work: Wyeth at Kuerners (), and Christina’s World (), and assisted in the documentary Andrew Wyeth Self Portrait: Snow Hill.[1][5]
The Wyeths were significant benefactors in art and education.[1] In , they founded the Wyeth Endowment for American Art (later the Wyeth Foundation for American Art).[1] Following Andrew Wyeth's death in , Betsy Wyeth gifted his studio to the Brandywine River Museum of Art.[1]
Preservation efforts
Betsy Wyeth was a defender and restorer of the Brandywine region's vernacular architecture.[2] She helped to save a 19th-century gristmill by encouraging a neighbour, George Weymouth, to buy it and turn it into a museum.[2] This opened in as the Brandywine River Museum (now known as the Brandywine Museum of Art).[6] Wyeth also restored the old mill complex on the Brandywine River which became the couple's home and studio.[1]
In Knox County, Maine, she bought three islands (Southern, Allen, and Benner), on one of which she restored a lighthouse.[2] Andrew Wyeth called the area "Betsy’s Village".[2] In , she bought an old sail loft, previously dismantled in Port Clyde.[2] She had it put back together on one of the three islands, as a birthday gift for her husband.[2] The sail loft became the subject of one of Andrew Wyeth's paintings, and was renamed Goodbye by Besty following his death.[2] Allen and Benner islands were acquired by Colby College in [7]
Betsy Wyeth was a founding member of the Chadds Ford Historical Society, and a driving force in the creation of Island Journal.[1][8] In , she founded Up East Incorporated, to support environmental research, preservation, and education in Maine.[1]
Death and legacy
Betsy Wyeth died aged 98 on 21 April at her home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.[2]The Philadelphia Inquirer remembered her as "the chief architect of the Wyeth mystique".[9]
Between and , the Brandywine Museum of Art paid tribute to Betsy Wyeth's legacy with a display of 20 drawings and paintings of and about her.[10] In , The Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine staged an exhibition titled Betsy's Gift.[4]
A scholarship in her name, The Betsy James Wyeth Fellowship in Native American Art, is distributed by The Wyeth Foundation for American Art.[11] Since its formation in , the Foundation has provided more than $10 million in financial support for art and artists.[12]
Bibliography
- The Wyeths: The Letters of N.C.
Wyeth, ()
- Wyeth at Kuerners ()
- Christina’s World ()
References
- ^ abcdefghijkl"In memoriam: Betsy James Wyeth () | Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art".
. Retrieved
- ^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxGreen, Penelope ().Jamie wyeth Betsy was a catalyst in the creation and opening of the Brandywine River Museum of Art and was a visionary in the worlds of art and architecture. She was also a published author, art collector and a driving force in the career of her husband, artist Andrew Wyeth—serving as his muse, business manager and chief archivist of his work. Together with Andrew, she was a major benefactor in the fields of art and education. As soon as it re-opens to the public, the Brandywine River Museum of Art is planning to honor the life of Betsy Wyeth with a memorial tribute display of 20 Andrew Wyeth works, depicting his wife and muse, created over the decades. Her family vacationed in, and ultimately moved to, Cushing, Maine, where at age 17 she met Andrew Wyeth on July 12, —his twenty-second birthday.
"Betsy Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth's Widow and Collaborator, Dies at 98". The New York Times. ISSN&#; Retrieved
- ^"Andrew Wyeth, Christina's World, ". MoMA.
- ^ ab"Betsy Wyeth's Maine Island Sanctuary Nurtured Andrew Wyeth's Art | Art & Object".
- Nicholas wyeth
- Betsy james wyeth net worth at time
- Betsy wyeth
. Retrieved
- ^"Betsy Wyeth | Editor, Editorial Department, Producer". IMDb. Retrieved
- ^"Our History | Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art".Betsy james wyeth net worth at death She managed the business, named his paintings, and was the chief architect of the Wyeth mystique. Betsy James Wyeth, 98, the widow of painter Andrew Wyeth who was his muse, model, archivist, and the business brains behind his career, died Tuesday, April 21, at home in Chadds Ford. Wyeth had been in declining health for a number of years, a spokesperson for the family said. The Wyeths met in , when Betsy was Andrew proposed within about a week, they married 10 months later, and they quickly formed one of the most successful personal and professional partnerships in the history of art.
. Retrieved
- ^Mendelsohn, Meredith (). "New Life for the Wyeth Legacy Five Miles Out to Sea". The New York Times. ISSN&#; Retrieved
- ^Groening, Tom (). "Betsy James Wyeth". Island Journal. Retrieved
- ^Dobrin, Peter (). "Betsy Wyeth, muse and the force behind Andrew Wyeth's success, dies at age 98".
Betsy james wyeth net worth today
Andrew Wyeth - , Maga's Daughter Betsy Wyeth, the fierce guide, collaborator and muse to her husband Andrew Wyeth, has died, aged It's very easy for us to see him as Andrew Wyeth, but when she met him he was just this year-old blond-haired blue-eyed kid named Andy who was doing all these crazy watercolours. My grandmother knew Christina and her brother very well. Christina was disabled, so my grandma would go over and comb her hair, and because of this incredible relationship she had with the Olsons, they welcomed Andrew in with open arms.. Retrieved
- ^"Betsy James Wyeth: A Tribute | Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art". . Retrieved
- ^"The Betsy James Wyeth Fellowship in Native American Art | Smithsonian American Art Museum". .
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- How did andrew wyeth die
- Where is betsy wyeth buried
- Betsy wyeth paintings
Retrieved
- ^"Wyeth Foundation for American Art - History". . Retrieved