Andrew Newell Wyeth (July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century.

 

In his art, Wyeth's favorite subjects were the land and people around him, both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and at his summer home in Cushing, Maine. One of the most well-known images in 20th-century American art is his painting, Christina's World, currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

 

Honors and awards

Andrew Wyeth (right) receiving the National Medal of Arts from George W. Bush in 2007.

 

Wyeth was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees.

• 2007, the National Medal of Arts. 

• 1988, the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States legislature. 

• 1987, a D.F.A. from Bates College. 

• 1980, the first living United States artist to be elected to Britain's Royal Academy. 

• 1977, the first American artist since John Singer Sargent to be elected to the French Académie des Beaux-Arts. 

• 1965, the gold medal for painting from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. 

• 1963, the first painter to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.