TY - JOUR
T1 - Andrew Wyeth and N.C. Wyeth
T2 - A Psychodynamic perspective on father and son
AU - Shaw, Jon A.
PY - 2013/1/1
Y1 - 2013/1/1
N2 - This paper examines the relationship between two extraordinary artists, father and son--N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945) and Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)--and their art. N.C. Wyeth, the father, the most famous illustrator of his day, painted scenes full of drama and action, often of men engaged in violent life and death struggles. N.C. was unable to separate from his powerful mother and yearned for his iconic father. He thought himself an artistic failure and dedicated himself to raising his children to be geniuses. The youngest son, Andrew Wyeth, who lived a "secret life," painted scenes often characterized by pathos: bleak and barren landscapes, leaden skies, tire tracks, gray framed houses, desiccated fields, and circling buzzards. In the father-son relationship, we often seen three themes perpetuated developmentally: (1) the son's identification with the innermost conflicts of his father; (2) the yearning for the iconic father of his youth; and (3) a continuation and disavowal of his father's life. These themes are played out in the relationship between Andrew Wyeth and his father.
AB - This paper examines the relationship between two extraordinary artists, father and son--N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945) and Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)--and their art. N.C. Wyeth, the father, the most famous illustrator of his day, painted scenes full of drama and action, often of men engaged in violent life and death struggles. N.C. was unable to separate from his powerful mother and yearned for his iconic father. He thought himself an artistic failure and dedicated himself to raising his children to be geniuses. The youngest son, Andrew Wyeth, who lived a "secret life," painted scenes often characterized by pathos: bleak and barren landscapes, leaden skies, tire tracks, gray framed houses, desiccated fields, and circling buzzards. In the father-son relationship, we often seen three themes perpetuated developmentally: (1) the son's identification with the innermost conflicts of his father; (2) the yearning for the iconic father of his youth; and (3) a continuation and disavowal of his father's life. These themes are played out in the relationship between Andrew Wyeth and his father.
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U2 - 10.1521/psyc.2013.76.3.187
DO - 10.1521/psyc.2013.76.3.187
M3 - Article
C2 - 23965259
AN - SCOPUS:84895846311
VL - 76
SP - 187
EP - 202
JO - Psychiatry
JF - Psychiatry
SN - 0033-2747
IS - 3
ER -