![\"Andrew](\"http:\/\/about.usps.com\/news\/national-releases\/2017\/images\/pr17_034.png\")
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CHADDS FORD, PA \u2014 Andrew Wyeth, one of the most prominent artists of the 20th-century \u2014 whose realistic style defied artistic trends \u2014 was commemorated today on his birth centennial with the issuance of 12 Forever stamps highlighting his paintings.<\/p>\n
The Andrew Wyeth Forever stamps were dedicated in his home town of Chadds Ford, PA, at the\u00a0Brandywine River Museum of Art<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>The public is asked to share the news on social media using the hashtags\u00a0#WyethStamps\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>and\u00a0#MyBrandywine<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n Mastering a realistic style, Wyeth (July 12, 1917 \u2013 Jan. 16, 2009) created haunting and enigmatic paintings based largely on people and places in his life, a body of work that continues to resist easy or comfortable interpretation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Postal Service takes tremendous pride in its stamp program, which celebrates the very best of American life, history and culture,\u201d said Patrick Mendonca, U.S. Postal Service Senior Director, Office of the Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer, who dedicated the stamps. \u201cAnd since today is the centennial of Andrew Wyeth\u2019s birth, it\u2019s the perfect occasion to celebrate the man whose masterful works have found a place in our homes \u2014 and in our hearts. Wyeth\u2019s work resonated with millions of art enthusiasts around the globe.\u00a0 Now, these miniature works of art can touch many.\u201d<\/p>\n Joining Mendonca in the ceremony was Wyeth\u2019s son and acclaimed artist\u00a0Jamie Wyeth<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and Brandywine River Museum of Art Executive Director\u00a0Virginia Logan<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy father, a prolific letter writer, would indeed be proud that a selection of his paintings now appears on U.S. postage stamps,\u201d said Jamie Wyeth. \u201cHe would have relished using them!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn a year filled with celebrations marking the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art\u2019s 50th anniversary, we are honored to help the United States Postal Service commemorate Andrew Wyeth\u2019s remarkable career with a set of 12 Forever stamps on what would have been his 100th birthday,\u201d said Logan. \u201cThis is an apt moment in time to reassess this artist\u2019s incredible contributions to American art, and we are thrilled to have over 100 of his works currently on display in the Museum as part of the\u00a0Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect<\/em><\/a>\u00a0exhibition.\u201d<\/p>\n The Andrew Wyeth Forever stamp pane includes 12 stamps that feature details of different Wyeth paintings.\u00a0First row, L to R:<\/em>\u00a0\u201cWind from the Sea\u201d (1947), \u201cBig Room\u201d (1988) and \u201cChristina\u2019s World\u201d (1948).\u00a0Second row, L to R:<\/em>\u00a0\u201cAlvaro and Christina\u201d (1968), \u201cFrostbitten\u201d (1962) and \u201cSailor\u2019s Valentine\u201d (1985).\u00a0Third row, L to R:<\/em>\u00a0\u201cSoaring\u201d (1942\u20131950), \u201cNorth Light\u201d (1984) and \u201cSpring Fed\u201d (1967),\u00a0Fourth row, L to R:<\/em>\u00a0\u201cThe Carry\u201d (2003), \u201cYoung Bull\u201d (1960) and \u201cMy Studio\u201d (1974). The selvage shows a photograph of Wyeth from the 1930s.<\/p>\n \u201cChristina\u2019s World,\u201d inspired by Christina Olson, a disabled neighbor in Maine, is a rich and enigmatic work that inspired decades of interpretation. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City purchased the painting in 1948. Today, \u201cChristina\u2019s World\u201d is one of the iconic works of 20th-century American art. From the sale of \u201cChristina\u2019s World\u201d to the sensational \u201cHelga pictures\u201d unveiled in the 1980s, Wyeth captured the imagination of the American public and established himself as one of the most prominent American artists of the 20th century.<\/p>\n Finding endless inspiration both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, PA, and in rural Maine, he scrutinized the lives, houses, and personal belongings of the people around him, sometimes painting their portraits but just as often using objects and places to represent them. Conveying emotions that were difficult to put into words, Wyeth\u2019s work stood out for its startling austerity and stark lack of color \u2014 the artist\u2019s way of reflecting memories, associations, and echoes from his life, including his own distinctive sense of the wondrous and the strange.<\/p>\n In 2017, the centennial of Wyeth\u2019s birth offers an occasion to look anew at a lifetime of remarkable art. With its subtle symbolism and eerie implications, his work invites us to reinterpret his personal vision \u2014 and to learn to see layers unnoticed before.<\/p>\n Wyeth\u2019s Inspiration<\/strong> Rather than depict nature with photographic accuracy, however, Wyeth used painting to convey emotions that were difficult to put into words. His work often reflected memories, associations, and echoes from his personal life, including his own distinctive sense of the wondrous and the strange.<\/p>\n Wyeth received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990. Sites in Pennsylvania and Maine that influenced his work were recently designated National Historic Landmarks.<\/p>\n Issued as Forever stamps, they will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.<\/p>\n![\"Andrew](\"http:\/\/about.usps.com\/news\/national-releases\/2017\/images\/pr17_035a.jpg\")
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\nThe son of renowned illustrator N.C. Wyeth, Wyeth was born and raised in Chadds Ford. He and his wife lived there while typically spending each summer and early fall in Maine. In both places, he scrutinized the lives, houses, and personal belongings of the people around him, finding particular inspiration in the German immigrants on a nearby Chadds Ford farm and often painting portraits of them and views in and around their home. By this time, the tendencies that define much of his work were taking shape, among them a focus on death and loss; the use of places and objects to serve as stand-ins for people; an intense and unsentimental scrutiny of nature; and an often startling austerity and stark lack of color.<\/p>\n