Artist:
Jamie Wyeth
(American, b. 1946)
The Raven
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1980
Dimensions:
60 × 72 in. (152.4 × 182.9 cm)
Accession number: 92.6
Copyright: © Jamie Wyeth / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Label Copy:
"I was alone for two months when I was doing [Raven], and I got this whole thing of, ‘Is it alive with me, in the dark?’ Totally freaked me out."
This large-scale painting marks Wyeth’s transition from New York City to the worlds of Monhegan and Southern Islands. Andy Warhol saw it in 1980, at Wyeth’s one-man exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; after visiting, he noted in his diary that "Jamie is painting bigger—more Pop—pictures now. I told him he should go even bigger." With mottled, glossy feathers and one gleaming, beady eye, this larger-than-life raven approaches the edge of the canvas with its beak partly open, ready to attack its prey.
"I was alone for two months when I was doing [Raven], and I got this whole thing of, ‘Is it alive with me, in the dark?’ Totally freaked me out."
This large-scale painting marks Wyeth’s transition from New York City to the worlds of Monhegan and Southern Islands. Andy Warhol saw it in 1980, at Wyeth’s one-man exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; after visiting, he noted in his diary that "Jamie is painting bigger—more Pop—pictures now. I told him he should go even bigger." With mottled, glossy feathers and one gleaming, beady eye, this larger-than-life raven approaches the edge of the canvas with its beak partly open, ready to attack its prey.
Curatorial RemarksThe scale of "The Raven" gives drama to this painting. The unusual harsh colors, bright lighting, and realistic details of the bird add to the painting's uneasy effect. "The Raven" demonstrates Wyeth's interest in depicting threatening aspects of nature. The artist has painted ravens for many years in a wide variety of images.
On view