Artist:
John Yerger
(American, 1935 - 2017)
Sitter:
Helga Testorf
Sitter:
Andrew Wyeth
(American, 1917 - 2009)
Helga (Homage to Andrew Wyeth)
Medium: Oil on panel
Date: 2010
Dimensions:
24 × 17 in. (61 × 43.2 cm)
Accession number: 2011.1
Copyright: © artist, artist's estate, or other rights holders
Label Copy:
Is it possible to make a portrait of a portrait? Using his skills at trompe l’oeil painting, a term used to describe artists who create visual illusions of three-dimensionality to fool the viewers’ perception of an image, John Yerger skillfully renders a triple portrait. In his oil painting, Yerger represents a photographic portrait of the artist Andrew Wyeth. He also replicates a pencil sketch of Wyeth’s famed model Helga Testorf, along with a drybrush watercolor portrait of Testorf known as Refuge (1985).
Is it possible to make a portrait of a portrait? Using his skills at trompe l’oeil painting, a term used to describe artists who create visual illusions of three-dimensionality to fool the viewers’ perception of an image, John Yerger skillfully renders a triple portrait. In his oil painting, Yerger represents a photographic portrait of the artist Andrew Wyeth. He also replicates a pencil sketch of Wyeth’s famed model Helga Testorf, along with a drybrush watercolor portrait of Testorf known as Refuge (1985).
Curatorial RemarksYerger’s homage to Wyeth contains a collage of Wyeth images, including a painting of the famous model, Helga, and a photograph of the artist. It is one of a series of trompe l’oeil works by Yerger honoring great artists, including Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer and others.