Pulling up to the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) in New Britain, CT, I felt surprisingly at ease. Maybe it was the serene surroundings, or maybe because the sun was shining, I knew I was in for a relaxing day of art viewing. The newly completed 43,000 square foot Chase Family Building seemed more like a large home, than a renowned museum. According to Melanie Eveleth, visitor services supervisor, the structure houses twelve galleries with more than 5,000 works, from 18th century to present. The NBMAA is the oldest museum in the country to dedicate itself solely to American art.

Walking past a modern seating arrangement in the front of the museum, and then through large steel and glass doors, I made a mental note to ask if the seats were from the store - Design Within Reach. As I was handed my museum brochure, I was told that the set did in fact come from the aforementioned business. Armed with a new confidence (at least with seating) a new 7.1 mp camera, dull pencil, and notebook, I headed for the Walter Wick exhibit.

"A painter for the People."
Remembering the Promise, the first piece of art that moves me, I'll write about, I noticed a painting of two individuals in combat. Dirtied and bloodied, clothes torn asunder, disholved faces reading each other. It was N.C. Wyeth's 1911 Oil on Canvas painting, "One more step, Mr. Hands.....and I'll blow your brains out," that stopped me cold.

One of America's preeminent Illustrators, Newell Convers Wyeth, N.C. Wyeth to you and me, was born in 1882 in Needham, MA. A son of a practical father and a emotional nourishing mother, Wyeth's love of the outdoors stemmed from his life on the family farm. Attending Mass. Normal Art School, Wyeth was encouraged to go the illustration route by teacher Richard Andrews.

Following advice from friends, Wyeth later attended Howard Pyle's Wilmington, Delaware school, where he was introduced to "The Use of Dramatic Effect." A style that basically defined his career. Wyeth was quoted as saying he "learned more in 5 minutes from a Pyle lecture, than he had learned in his entire previous education." Less than four months later (Wyeth) landed his first published work for the Saturday Evening Post, February 21, 1903. Other works followed quickly in magazines such as Century, Harpers, Outing and Scribners. In all, Wyeth drew and painted about 3,000 pictures and over a hundred illustrations.

"Realism came from hands on Experience"
Part of the Golden age of Illustration (1880's -1920's) it occurred to me that Wyeth was Pulp art, before pulp art became pulp art. Persons in mid-movement, lurid (perhaps for the time) subjects in compromising situations. Big, bold brushstrokes, "raw" colors, showing
characters "mixed with vivid imagination and masterful technique images," briefly defines pulp art and Wyeth's work. Like pulp art, Wyeth placed solitary or few people in the foreground. He felt this technique, "enhanced the dramatic." This is strongly evidenced by his work for the Robert Lewis Stevenson Novel - Treasure Island.

Two figures locked in combat, sea spray whipping their faces into a sullied and frenzy grimace, soiled by blood and sweat clinging to a mast, armed with dual guns and knives, just screams realism. I find Wyeth's use of movement refreshing. Wyeth is quoted as saying," Realism came from hands on experience." Spending time in the west in the early 1900's, it is evident how he came involve the process of nature as the second act. The first being his subjects. After viewing a diverse collection of "posed" pieces, I come to realize how "alive" his works really are. Even in his 1924 work of a Ladies Home Journal, the "posed" subject appears to be full of life.

Wyeth's use of the dramatic in the foreground, from the shading on the faces, to the detail on the clothing help set the painting's tone. At closer inspection, I also notice that in many of Wyeth's works, the serene background takes a backseat to the action-packed foreground. Does mankind upset the delicate balance of nature....or enhance it? I like Wyeth's use of dichotomy between man and nature.

Another key point to Wyeth's work is in the subject's faces. In many of his works, the subjects appear to starring in a contemplative manner...almost heroic. In his 1947 magazine cover for Woman's Day "The Yearling," the young person is staring into the fire, holding on to a small deer, lost in thought and mood. His works appear to be compassionate, yet strong at the same time.

"Have Egg will travel"
Although Wyeth achieved great acclaim from his oil, water colors, and illustrations. He also used a process called egg tempera, in which the egg yolk was used as the medium, producing a unique effect. The is shown in Wyeth's 1947 work, "Dodges Ridge." For me, the use of this technique "softened" his paintings, almost dulling them. The expressions, the life, the characters in the frame are muted, leaving the viewer yearning for more. Until then.......