Andrew Wyeth, 1917-2009

A spokesperson for the Brandywine River Museum announced that artist Andrew Wyeth passed away on the morning of Friday, January 16, 2009. Mr. Wyeth was 91. He was also a national treasure who gave us Christina's World, one of the most iconic American paintings of the 20th century.

Wyeth's career spanned seven decades and encompasses an enormous body of work. He long ago won the hearts of everyday art lovers, but critical acclaim remains a matter of some debate--and probably will for the foreseeable future. The late art historian Robert Rosenblum (1927-2006) summed up the popular-critical dichotomy best, in 1977, by naming Wyeth both the "most overrated" and "most underrated" American artist of the century.

Hate or love his work (and most of us fall in the latter category), one has to admire any man who finds his muse and remains faithful to it until the end of his earthly days. Condolences to his family, friends and the communities of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and Port Clyde and Cushing, Maine. For the rest of us, there's this bittersweet thought: Andrew Wyeth died in his Chadds Ford home, just as he had been born at his father, N.C. Wyeth's, nearby Chadds Ford home in 1917. He will be missed.

• Read Andrew Wyeth's bio page.
• Andrew Wyeth's official website
• Andrew Wyeth Remembrance page (reader comments welcomed)

Image credit: Painter Andrew Wyeth (R) greets U.S. President George W. Bush (L) during the presentation ceremony of 2007 National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals in the East Room of the White House November 15, 2007 in Washington, DC. Wyeth was presented with a National Medal of Arts. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)