Wyeth Vertigo, Shelburne Farms, Vermont

My parents have been long time fans of the Painter Andrew Wyeth, and I have seen the works of his son, Jamie Wyeth on a number of occassions and in a number of places, but I was completely unfamiliar with the work of Andrew Wyeth's father, N.C. Wyeth.  He was best known as an illustrator, and early in his career, he traveled throughout the West and did primarily outdoor scenes--which is largely what his son and grandson became known for.  He moved away from depicting the outdoors in 1911, and his illustrations fo Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island', thought by many to be his best work.

I thought the paintings that were on exhibit by N.C.Wyeth were spectacular--I wish that I had known I would like them so much, I would have budgeted more time for the exhibit!  The paintings amassed at Shelburne Farms by all three Wyeths were put together with the idea that this family of American painters likes to be above what they paint, at least in the perspective of the painting.  The additional point made is that the view may not be what you would expect it to be--that the angle is just a bit off, or surprising--I found that to be most true with the Andrew Wyeth painting looking down from a tree at a hunter on the ground. 

Andrew Wyeth did a number of paintings from a bird's eye view, and he is famous for those, amongst others.  I really do not like to be up high myself--whenever I climb to the top of a tower (most recently it was a castle in Spain) and I look down on the view below all I can think about is that I want to get down, preferably as soon as possible.  I am not one to marvel from above, but I very much enjoy a painting that does just that.