A Newtown Square couple felt right at home in the cafeteria at Westtown School, where N.C. Wyeth’s “The Giant” painting looms large on a dining hall wall.
Robert and Nanette Zakian were there to hear N.C.’s great-granddaughter, Victoria Browning Wyeth, speak at a fundraiser for the Chadds Ford Historical Society on Saturday, Nov. 21. The Zakians had attended a previous lecture of hers at the Chester County Art Association, where they had bonded over an N.C. Wyeth work they came to own through somewhat circuitous circumstances.
Nanette Zakian’s father was offered “Tavern Brawl” as a thank-you gift for providing chauffeur service to a neighbor; however, he insisted on paying him, handing over $800 in 1966. The neighbor’s father had received the painting from N.C. Wyeth in appreciation of the work he did as a boxing coach for N.C.’s son Nathaniel, Andrew Wyeth’s brother.
Similar examples of connections and gratitude pervaded both the reception that preceded the lecture and the presentation itself. Entitled “I Paint My Life,” the program represented another crowd-pleasing, high-energy performance from the 36-year-old granddaughter of Andrew and Betsy, great-granddaughter of N.C., and niece of Jamie.
For more than a decade, Victoria Wyeth, who works as a therapist and research assistant at Norristown State Hospital, has enthralled crowds at myriad venues. Many of them, such as the Brandywine River Museum of Art, area schools, and senior centers, boast ties to the Wyeth family.
Victoria Wyeth offered an insightful, historical perspective on her grandfather, beginning with his birth on July 12, 1917 – Henry David Thoreau’s birthday – and his death on Jan. 16, 2009, at the age of 91. She infused the discussion of multiple paintings with insider anecdotes about their creation.
The presentation included four never publicly viewed studies depicting the Chadds Ford Historical Society’s John Chad House and Josie Heyneker, a Birmingham Township resident. Both Heyneker and Andy Bell, another Andrew Wyeth model, were in the audience and chatted with fans before and after the lecture.
Heyneker, whose father worked as a physician for Westtown School, met the artist through her role as a caregiver for Betsy Wyeth, his wife, who is 94. Heyneker said she thoroughly enjoyed the presentation as well as her stint as a model. “I was very honored,” she said.
Victoria Wyeth said Bell, who lived next door to her grandfather’s studio, was such a close family friend that he played a key role at her wedding earlier this year. She said her grandfather had always wanted to paint Bell on his Harley Davidson and seized the opportunity in 2008. He saw Bell on his motorcycle, pulled over to the side of the road, and began working on what would become his last Chadds Ford watercolor, entitled “Stop.”
Most of the artist’s titles were created by Betsy Wyeth, her granddaughter said. In fact, Betsy Wyeth was so attuned to her husband’s work that she realized something was amiss when his palette changed slightly, an observation that led to his cataract surgery, Victoria Wyeth said.
The presentation also included an uncirculated watercolor of Helga Testorf, one of her grandfather’s most famous models. Helga became a household name in the mid-1980s after Andrew Wyeth revealed a cache of more than 200 works, many of them nudes, which he had done over nearly 15 years.
Victoria Wyeth attributed the volume of work to Testorf’s ability to pose for long hours at a time. Other models made the artist feel rushed. “I liked her because she lived her own life,” Andrew Wyeth told his granddaughter, recalling that the first time he saw Helga, she was lugging a vacuum cleaner.
Another of the many stories involved Siri Erickson, a model who also posed nude in Maine, where the Wyeths vacation. Decades later, Victoria Wyeth said she had the chance to visit the Brandywine River Museum with Erickson and couldn’t resist snapping a photo of her from behind, a shot that included her image in one of the paintings.
Wyeth said it was a fun experience because no one in the museum knew Erickson’s identity. “I prefer my former self,” Erickson quipped when she viewed the painting.
The lecture also included a poignant video interview of Andrew Wyeth that his granddaughter did for a Japanese audience in the summer of 2008, months before he died. “I hope they get my feeling of love for the objects I paint,” Andrew Wyeth said.
Victoria Wyeth definitely does, and she said her ability to share her excitement about her grandfather’s work helps to fill the painful void of his loss. She urged the audience not to take things for granted.
“I would give anything to drive down the driveway and see him painting,” Victoria Wyeth said. “I miss looking out the window and seeing him paint.”
She said she was with him when he died. “I know that he left this world knowing that he was a very loved man,” she said.
Jacalyn Beam, an artist from Hockessin, De., who has heard Victoria Wyeth speak many times, said Victoria Wyeth’s love for her grandfather enriches the presentations. “She just gets better and better and better with every lecture,” Beam said.
Carla Westerman of Birmingham Township said the opportunity to hear Victoria Wyeth speak at Westtown School was particularly special, given her great-grandfather’s presence there. “This is a wonderful example of a school’s integrating its surroundings into the students’ education,” she said. “They have a great art legacy here.”
Sue Duerr of Chadds Ford Township, brought two fellow art lovers with her to the event: her daughter Natalie, whose studies at Liberty College include an art minor, and her son’s girlfriend, Mackenzie Gaul, a student at the Delaware College of Art and Design.
“We all had a great time,” Sue Duerr said. “I think anyone who has any interest in the Wyeths should hear her … She’s an excellent speaker and really engages the audience. It’s so different than looking at a painting.”
Duerr said she valued the fact that Wyeth took it upon herself to document her family history. “She’s such a wonderful ambassador,” said Duerr, referencing all the notes and photos that Victoria Wyeth collected. “I wish I’d done that with my own grandmother.”
Natalie Duerr said she appreciated Victoria Wyeth’s suggestion that sometimes art can be overanalyzed. “I enjoyed learning about the artist and his personality,” she said. “I've taken a few art history classes so I understand when she says art historians look too far into things. And as an artist, I relate to simply seeing a movement or scene and knowing that's what I want to paint.”
Ryan Gleklen drove up from Annapolis to watch his cousin Victoria "in action." He said it was the first time he had seen one of her formal presentations. The 20-year-old’s assessment: “She was wonderful; I really enjoyed it.”
And for those in the crowd who might think that they witnessed an ebullient but uncharacteristic persona, Gleklen would strongly disagree. “What you saw is the way she is all the time,” he said. “She’s just great.”
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