January Thaw

© Jamie Wyeth/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Artist:

Jamie Wyeth

(American, b. 1946)

January Thaw

Medium: Watercolor on paper
Date: 1965
Dimensions:
19 × 28 in. (48.3 × 71.1 cm)
Accession number: 97.8.2
Copyright: © Jamie Wyeth / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Label Copy:
From a young age, as demonstrated in this work, Jamie Wyeth was equally proficient in both watercolor and oil painting. In January Thaw, the unpainted paper stands in for the snow-covered hill. The composition largely consists of shades of off-white and gray. Wyeth captures the low raking light that highlights the tire treads and casts a long shadow on the snow. The pile of tractor tires revealed by the thaw are a surprising, though certainly realistic, element in an agricultural landscape such as those found around Chadds Ford.