The life of Andrew Wyeth in bold strokes.
WYETH tells the story of one of America's most popular, but least understood, artists. While his exhibitions routinely broke attendance records, art world critics continually assaulted his work.
WYETH is a stunningly beautiful film that that uses footage inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s artwork to tell his life’s story.
Coming from a family of successful artists, including his commanding father, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth was raised to be an artist. Unprecedented access to archival footage from the Wyeth family reveals his early immersion in a creative world.
Andrew Wyeth exhibitions consistently broke attendance records at the most prestigious art museums across the country. Detailing the stunning drawings and powerful portraits created in Pennsylvania and on the coast of Maine, WYETH shows the artist’s mastery of the form and why his work appealed to audiences around the world. Remarkably, the filmmaking team has access to many of the locations that provided continual inspiration to Andrew Wyeth during his lifetime. Our cameras visit these places -- his studio and the Kuerner Farm in Chadds Ford, PA, the Olson House in Cushing, Maine (the location for his famous Christina’s World) -- and lovingly bring them to life.
He confidently continued to paint the people and places he knew, undeterred by the dramatic evolution of the art world. His sensational paintings of Helga Testorf landed cover stories in both Time and Newsweek. Interviews with family and friends - including Helga - demonstrate the effect on Andrew of living and working in the public eye.
Now, with the distance of time, art critics and historians are rediscovering and reinterpreting his work. Layers of complexity in the art are revealed and celebrated by some of the most preeminent scholars of American art.
Amidst these moving testimonies is the work. The stunning drawings, studies, paintings and powerful portraits that capture the “frozen motion” that Wyeth was seeking throughout his life. WYETH builds a life, layer by layer, much in the way Andrew Wyeth created his exquisite master paintings–meticulous study followed by layer upon layer of tempera.
REVIEWS
"This 'American Masters' profile of artist Andrew Wyeth helps viewers see the deeper meaning--and the man--behind his once-ubiquitous works."
"[WYETH's] arguments are convincing and passionate, buttressed by critical insight and an arresting, eloquent visual style that marries the paintings to the places where they were created."
John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal
"...this is an expertly made, exhaustively researched documentary with a suitably painterly feel in its widescreen visuals."
"It's a respectful, layered and poignant survey of the artist's life and work."
"There's compositional beauty in cinematographer Phil Bradshaw's textured images, but also the harshness and darkness that were quintessential elements of Wyeth's art."
"[Director Glenn] Holsten's film is fluidly edited by Vic Carreno and delicately scored by composer Michael Aharon with lovely use of banjo and strings."
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
"Holsten and Philadelphia production company FreshFly are not arts novices; their filmography includes works about the Barnes Collection and Longwood Gardens. So, it's no surprise this film is polished and visually exciting."
Gail Obenreder, Broad Street Review
