“Airborne,” Andrew Wyeth. Last night I shared a painting by N.C. Wyeth. Tonight, here’s a favorite by his son Andrew that is seldom seen. I’m a beach bum at heart. Put me in the white sand with a margarita in my hand, please. Or a michelada, gracias. But I’ve also traveled more northerly coastlines where sandy beaches become gritty, rocky shores. Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Maine. I lived on Cape Anne, in Gloucester. Right on the harbor across from the Coast Guard station, during winter, 1987. The place was on pilings. Our shower stall drained straight into the seawater. I split logs in the snow to feed the wood stove for heat. I saw firsthand why so many great painters have been drawn to such harsh environments—the stark contrasts between sea and sky, snow and rock, earth and ocean— that transform the familiar into otherworldly landscapes. Andrew was a master of watercolor, gouache and egg tempera. I searched but could not find a record of which medium he used for this painting. I would guess gouache or tempera due to the opacity of the whites. But forget all that… Just imagine yourself standing there on a ragged coast with your hair blown back, the harsh wind of all your sins and regrets flying in your face like a cloud of gull feathers.
Andrew Wyeth, Airborne
