Skip to main contentBiographyLABEL: Jamie Wyeth was born in 1946. The son of Andrew Wyeth and grandson of N.C. Wyeth, Jamie devoted himself to art by the age of twelve. He left public school after six years and was tutored in order to spend most of his day drawing. His early training was with his aunt, Carolyn Wyeth; Jamie never studied formally with his father. To further his knowledge of the human body, he studied anatomy in a New York City hospital morgue.
From a young age, Jamie demonstrated mature technical ability. Portraits such as Shorty and Draft Age were completed while he was a teenager. Later portraits include such well-known subjects as artist Andy Warhol and dancer Rudolph Nureyev. Jamie often spends hundreds of hours with a subject in preparation for a portrait.
Also well-known for his portraits of animals, he lives on a working farm along the Brandywine River and on an Island off the Maine Coast. His deep understanding of animals and nature is revealed in paintings which display both gentle and brutal aspects of his world.
From quiet moments to threatening storms, the natural world is also a focus of Jamie's Maine paintings. The almost desolate quality of the landscape and the vulnerability of life there contribute to Jamie's continuing interest in painting such an environment.
Jamie's primary medium is oil; he also works in watercolor and mixed media. Of his interest in oil, Jamie says: "I could eat it. ...You have to love a medium to work in it. I love the feel and smell of oil."
As a third generation artist, Jamie Wyeth has been influenced by those who came before him. He notes especially composition, scale and imagination in the work of Howard Pyle, his grand-father's teacher. It is his own creative ability, however, that makes his work unique. His treatment of subjects presents alternatives to established points of view, often featuring surprising scale and unusual juxtapositions.
Jamie Wyeth
American, b. 1946
From a young age, Jamie demonstrated mature technical ability. Portraits such as Shorty and Draft Age were completed while he was a teenager. Later portraits include such well-known subjects as artist Andy Warhol and dancer Rudolph Nureyev. Jamie often spends hundreds of hours with a subject in preparation for a portrait.
Also well-known for his portraits of animals, he lives on a working farm along the Brandywine River and on an Island off the Maine Coast. His deep understanding of animals and nature is revealed in paintings which display both gentle and brutal aspects of his world.
From quiet moments to threatening storms, the natural world is also a focus of Jamie's Maine paintings. The almost desolate quality of the landscape and the vulnerability of life there contribute to Jamie's continuing interest in painting such an environment.
Jamie's primary medium is oil; he also works in watercolor and mixed media. Of his interest in oil, Jamie says: "I could eat it. ...You have to love a medium to work in it. I love the feel and smell of oil."
As a third generation artist, Jamie Wyeth has been influenced by those who came before him. He notes especially composition, scale and imagination in the work of Howard Pyle, his grand-father's teacher. It is his own creative ability, however, that makes his work unique. His treatment of subjects presents alternatives to established points of view, often featuring surprising scale and unusual juxtapositions.
Person TypeIndividual
Terms