“Evening at Kuerners.” By Andrew Wyeth, 1970. Brandywine River Museum. Done with dry brush watercolor on paper. Photo above by Paul Goldfinger from a museum reproduction. Click left to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) grew up at his family’s home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. He loved to explore the countryside near his house. One mile away he discovered the Kuerners Farm owned by a family from Germany. At age 15 Wyeth did his first painting of the farm, and over the next 70 years he created 1,000 works of art based on the farm and the Kuerner family.
This print is from the Brandywine River Museum. I saw this image there and immediately was drawn to it. I like to study paintings as they inform my photography. In this case I felt a sudden and startling kinship with Andrew Wyeth because had I done a photograph of Kuerners Farm, I believe I would have composed it just this way and at just that time of day. The light of early evening is “golden light” for photographers and painters.
Andrew Wyeth wrote about this image:
“There are few studies for this because that was the year that Karl was very ill. Many evenings with the light burning there quite late, I had a foreboding that this might be the end.
“I’d go over there evening after evening and just watch. I’d hear the water and see that light in Karl’s room, and I’d lie in bed at night thinking about that square house sitting in that valley with the moonlight casting such a strange liquid light on its side.
“The light in the window, which is pure paper, by the way, seemed to me to be Karl’s flickering soul. For me it’s a very emotional picture. I saw Helga for the first time when I was doing this.” — - Andrew Wyeth
AARON COPLAND. “Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring” The album: An American Picnic
I was amazed that this great artist could create over 1000 works of art of the same subject.
George Tice, the American photographer said, in a video about his artistry, that if he had to spend the rest of his life photographing the old blue collar town of Paterson, he would be inspired to do that.
So painters and photographers who might complain that they have nothing new to use as subjects can learn from this concept.
But in the process, one wants to create something original and not repetitive.
A teacher at the Maine Photographic Workshops told me that if I look into the viewfinder and I see something which I had photographed before, I should not press the shutter release—just move on.
Sometimes I feel unable to find anything inspiring in the Grove, so I just go down by the beach or Tent Village, and “voila.”
Reblogged this on Blogfinger and commented:
On September 9, PBS did an American Masters documentary about Andrew Wyeth, and they spent a lot of time regarding his relationship with the Kuerner family. So it seemed fitting to re-post this.
Of all our thousands of posts on Blogfinger, this one is the most re-visited by internet researchers. Just today (Sept 10) there were 5 links to the site. You can type Andrew Wyeth into our search box (top right) and see a few of our offerings regarding this great artist.
Once again you inspire and touch the heart strings. The painting is haunting and the quote from Wyeth brings it to life. Of course the music is the perfect accompaniment. Thank you!
One of my favorite artists…thanks for sharing this painting.