We’ve had quite a few requests for Andrew Wyeth’s work, most recently by someone who was enthusiastic enough to track down who I needed to contact about licensing it. I emailed and got a quick (and admittedly, courteous) response that they don’t license the work except for “art historical books and limited posters”. If I were 8 years old, I would wonder why some of these people are so stuck up, but I’m supposed to be more mature than that.
I am not deeply grieved, in reality, because I am not Andrew Wyeth’s biggest fan. Of course his work is very good, technically, but the colors are not to my taste, and the subject matter doesn’t move me (except for “Christina’s World”, which creeps me out — what sicko left that poor woman way out in the field dragging herself back to the house?).
My father was a big Wyeth fan, and I have been dragged to the Brandywine River Museum, which has a lot of assorted Wyeths, way more than I deserve. My dad was a big museum-goer in general, and it was always something of an ordeal, because there was no such thing as leaving before we had seen everything. That’s more fun some places than others, but it’s always exhausting. I’ve seen everything at the Franklin Institute (but don’t remember anything except the Foucault pendulum). I’ve seen everything at the Franklin Mint, where they have a gallery with every commemorative coin and little model car that they’ve ever made. Maybe, on all those occasions, he was tired too, and was waiting for me to say I was ready to go. I never sensed that but it is theoretically possible. When “Tora! Tora! Tora!” was in the theaters (yes, a LONG time ago) he wanted to go and I said fine. We saw it, and then the next movie was going to be “Herbie the Mixed-Up Volkswagen” or some title like that. He asked if I wanted to stay and see it and we did one of these “do you?” back-and-forth things and ended up staying. In retrospect, I am pretty sure that he didn’t want to see it, but at the time I couldn’t tell, and didn’t want to say I didn’t want to see it in case he did.
Anyway, fair or unfair, that’s one more thing I hold against Andrew Wyeth (the museum trips, not the movie. The movie is Walt Disney’s fault.)
I received the pattern in the mail yesterday and I can't wait to buy enough floss to get started. The pattern is going to be easy to stitch from as you have it organized so well and I like the idea of holding only one page at a time while I'm trying to stitch.
From Rifestitch
15 years, 3 months agoNot a big fan of Wyeth, either, but I do sometimes wonder why people don’t want the work to live on – so long as it doesn’t get to the Thomas Kincaid level of over exposure, what harm can it do?
My dad’s favorite place to drag me? The Air Force Museum. On one visit back home, my dad & I took my boys – they are clearly a lot more resistant than I was
But I did attend a lecture given by one of the Doolittle Raiders – don’t remember a lot about it, or who it was, but now that I’m older and can appreciate the significance of that, it’s pretty cool 
From Katie
15 years, 2 months agoI personally think that they should consider it an honor that we, cross stitchers everywhere, have deemed their work worthy enough for us to spend the months, nay years that it sometimes takes to complete OUR work or art. I don’t think that they realize the hundreds of hours that it takes to complete a cross stitch, or the hours of work put into the work before we take one stitch. I am not a teenager anymore, but I think at the very least these people are being snooty and elietist (?sp).
so phooey on them, we will devote and precious time (not to mention hard earned money) on someone elses beautiful painting or photograph…..I ask you who is really the looser?
From Alanna
15 years, 2 months agoI’m meeting with more and more snootiness from elitists and cliquey groups as time goes on. I’m at present trying to begin breeding a particular (very pretty) colour of one particular dog breed which doesn’t happen to be accepted in the breed standard for showing these dogs at trials. Well, no one will even speak to me about it, let alone assist me in being a responsible breeder and building up a sound breeding stock! Goodness, what a notion!
Again, it will be their loss when this colour is a respected trait and can be traced back to… me!
From CarrieBeth
15 years, 2 months agoYou know, Mr. Wyeth only recently died so I’m sure the “people in charge” are still very cognizant of his wishes. I never really “got” Andrew Wyeth until I attended a retrospective of his work put on by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I was really blown away at how intensely personal all of his paintings are, how meticulously he worked to get it just how he wanted it to be. When you consider all that went into one of his works — the joy, pain, the working and reworking of the subject matter — it maybe doesn’t seem so snooty or elite that he wouldn’t be very careful with any reproduction of his work.