Controversy Followed Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeths’s death has brought to mind the controversy surrounding his paintings. He was lambasted by critics for his bland style. Critics said of his work “They are just sort of colored drawings, illustrated dramas that enable people who don’t like art to fantasize about not living in the twentieth century.” Art critic Dave Hickey mentioned that Wyeth’s paintings were colorless “Mud and baby poop.” His paintings did appeal to middle class Americans so people who argue the worthiness of his paintings also include class arguments.

Some of his spicier moments came later in his career. In 1985 a series of over 200 paintings that he had done of Helga Testorf was released. The drama surrounding The Helga Paintings was a low level attempt at soap opera drama. It was said that Andrew did this series of paintings without his wife Betsy knowing about the time he was spending and that there was a romantic connection between the artist and model. Things were put to rest when it was found out the paintings had not been a secret (the pictures had been in circulation and reproduced since 1979), and Betsy said of any accusation of romance “It’s a bunch of crap.”