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Monday, July 05, 2010 - 1:09 PM
Born in 1907, the late Henriette
Wyeth was the first of five children of the painter Newell Convers Wyeth
and his wife, Carolyn. The family was a wellspring of talent. Three
of the children became painters-Henriette, Carolyn and Andrew. Ann, a
composer, later turned to painting and Nathaniel, matured as an
innovative technological engineer. As all five grew into independence
they married painters or writers, and many of their children in turn are
artists. For all her life, Henriette Wyeth had been surrounded by
artistry, intelligence, beauty, initiative and imagination.
Her love for the symphony, opera,
and theatre, as well as all forms of intellectual growth sustain
Henriette Wyeth's life, encouraging her capacity to draw, sketch, paint
and expand her joy of life and living.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire married the
famous artist, Peter Hurd. She lived in New Mexico with her husband and
children at the world famous Sentinel Ranch in San Patricio, and
continued to paint.
Globally renowned as a portrait
painter, many of her works are in the permanent collection of the
National Portrait Gallery and other prestigious collections throughout
the world. Her still life paintings are acknowledged as exquisite and
touching. She had painted "fantasies" which deal with the beauty and
tragedies of life and also shown the raw beauty of the people and land
of the southwest. Her art brings joy and spirit to thousands in every
corner of the world.
Her philosophy of life speaks of
universality... "I don't know what is important and what is unimportant,
so I call it all immensely important." She is sustained by an
ever-present feeling- "A kind of tribute to my delight in life, in all
kinds of important aspects of my life, and also the very superficial,
the delightful, the charming, the nonessential, except that I never know
what is nonessential. Nothing is unimportant... It is all paintable
It's all part of an artist's life"..."I love obvious things... I sing
the praises of the obvious". Her imperative was to contain and keep the
truth, and do it honor
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