Noah's Ark Study by Andrew Wyeth (Collection of the Wyeth Foundation for American Art © Andrew Wyeth/Artists Rights Society)
Andrew Wyeth had a lifelong link to the rural beauty of Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley, with connections to both family and art. A day-long visit to the Brandywine Museum of Art led by art historian Bonita Billman brings that personal landscape to life and offers an opportunity to view an exhibition of Wyeth’s works featuring many pieces that have not been exhibited before.
Andrew Wyeth: Home Places presents nearly 50 paintings and drawings of local buildings that inspired Wyeth time and again over seven decades of his career. Drawn from the nearly 7,000 objects in the Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection of the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, managed by the museum, the exhibition tells the story of an immersive and intensive artistic practice. Among the previously unexhibited works are the early oil The Miller’s Son, painted when Wyeth was just 17 years old, and the watercolor Noah’s Ark Study made at age 87—both depicting the same property, Brinton’s Mill.
Travel offsite in small-group shuttles to see Wyeth’s nearby studio, where he produced thousands of works of art from 1940 to 2008, many inspired by the farms and open spaces of the valley and the nearby Brandywine River. (Wyeth chose a location near his childhood home, the house and studio built by his father, illustrator and painter N.C. Wyeth, who was a key influence on the artist’s life.) Enjoy a boxed lunch at the museum’s Millstone Café.
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1/2 credit*
Know Before You Go
- The tour departs by motorcoach from downtown Washington, DC with a designated secondary pick-up outside the city. Content delivered by the study leader on the way to the destination, after the secondary pick-up, is an integral part of the study tour experience. Meeting the group once the tour is en route is discouraged.
- Tour participants meet at and leave by bus from the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C St. SW (corner of 6th and C Sts., SW), with a pickup stop at I-495 exit 27 carpool lot at about 7:40 a.m.
General Information
- Registration for this tour will end by 2 p.m. ET on Friday, June 30, 2023.
- Smithsonian is a mask-friendly environment. Masks are strongly recommended to be worn on buses at all times and may also be required at various indoor sites.
- For additional tour information:
*Enrolled participants in the World Art History Certificate Program receive 1/2 elective credit. Not yet enrolled? Learn about the program, its benefits, and how to register here.
