Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor
- Special Exhibition
The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Gallery
About The Exhibition
This exhibition is the first to offer an in-depth exploration of American artist Andrew Wyeth’s watercolors—described by one critic as having a “spectacular freedom”—examining his relationship to the medium throughout the early decades of his career. Beginning in the 1930s, Wyeth built a monumental reputation for his use of watercolor, depicting the people and places that surrounded him in rural Pennsylvania and Maine in expressive and evocative compositions. His practice varied widely over the years that followed, resulting in innovative works, both sketches and finished sheets. These works ranged from vivid, painterly landscapes to precisely rendered interior scenes and preparatory studies for the tempera paintings he produced alongside his watercolors.
Wyeth began to experiment with watercolor at a time when interest in it exploded throughout the United States, leading to its promotion as a medium distinctively suited to depicting American experiences. This new climate for making and exhibiting watercolors not only encouraged Wyeth’s practice but also informed the fundamental questions engaged by his work about what it meant to be American and modern at that time.
Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor presents more than 100 works from the artist’s estate—most of which have never been on view. Featuring watercolors and a selection of the artist’s paintings, the exhibition highlights a major aspect of Wyeth’s life and art. A richly illustrated accompanying publication includes essays by historians of American art and works on paper.
Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art in association with the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, with support from the Andrew & Betsy Wyeth Study Center of the Brandywine Museum of Art.
Featured Art
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All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, the John and Jeanette Walton Exhibition Fund, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson. Major annual support is provided by the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm and the Frankino-Dodero Family Fund for Exhibitions Endowment. Generous annual support is provided by two anonymous donors, Gini and Randy Barbato, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Gail and Bill Calfee, the Leigh H. Carter family, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Mary and Jim Conway, Joseph and Susan Corsaro, Ron and Cheryl Davis, Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Florence Kahane Goodman, Martha H. and Steven M. Hale, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Linda Harper, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., the estate of Walter and Jean Kalberer, Jane and Doug Kern, the late Mrs. Nancy M. Lavelle, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, William S. Lipscomb, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Roy Minoff Family Fund, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Mrs. Peta and the late Dr. Roland Moskowitz, Jeffrey Mostade and Eric Nilson and Varun Shetty, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Dr. Nicholas and Anne Ogan, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, the Pickering Foundation, Frank and Fran Porter, Christine Fae Powell, Peter and Julie Raskind, Michael and Cindy Resch, Marguerite and James Rigby, in memory of Dee Schafer, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, Elizabeth and Tim Sheeler, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Claudia Woods and David Osage.