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Arts Playlist: Victoria Wyeth discusses family legacy and famed artwork ahead of upcoming lecture

Andrew Wyeth's 1999 drybrush and watercolor on paper "Only Child," featuring Victoria Wyeth.
© 2017 Andrew Wyeth/Artists Rights Society (ARS) NY
Andrew Wyeth's 1999 drybrush and watercolor on paper "Only Child," featuring Victoria Wyeth.

Victoria Wyeth, grandchild of Andrew Wyeth, great-granddaughter of N.C. Wyeth, and the niece of Jamie Wyeth, is giving a lecture on her family’s famous artwork and the Biggs Museum of American Art’s exhibit “The Wyeths: Three Generations.”

For this edition of Arts Playlist, Delaware Public Media’s Karl Lengel spoke with Victoria Wyeth about her unique perspective of her family’s work and her talk at the Schwartz Center for the Arts.

Victoria Wyeth discusses her family’s work and upcoming lecture with Delaware Public Media’s Karl Lengel

A member of the Wyeth family brings a unique perspective on the family’s art to the Schwartz Center for the Arts in Dover tonight.

Victoria Wyeth’s lecture comes as the Biggs Museum of American Art opens its exhibition "The Wyeths: Three Generations." Her talk and the exhibit delve into the works of her grandfather Andrew, her great-grandfather N.C., and her uncle Jamie.

Wyeth’s art talks began as a teenager and she uses that experience and her observations of family as she engages aspiring artists. She is candid regarding an artist’s challenges.

“You’re going to have horrible things happen to you in your life, and I’m so sorry for that, but it’s what you do with that pain," Wyeth said. "Do you become depressed and start doing drugs and drinking, and just become this awful person, or do you harness that and do something amazing?”

While the family endured many tragedies, Wyeth believes they were able to transform the pain.

“I think emotionally they’ve all suffered greatly but I really think it’s made them better people and better artists," Wyeth said. "My great-grandfather’s death made my grandfather the artist that he was. He took that pain and did something beautiful with it.”

Wyeth speaks at the Schwartz Center tonight at 6:30pm.

The Biggs’ exhibition "The Wyeths: Three Generations" runs through February 11th.

Correction: During the interview, Victoria Wyeth said that her lecture is Saturday evening. However, her talk is Friday, November 3rd at 6:30pm. Delaware Public Media' s arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Karl Lengel has worked in the lively arts as an actor, announcer, manager, director, administrator and teacher. In broadcast, he has accumulated three decades of on-air experience, most recently in New Orleans as WWNO’s anchor for NPR’s “All Things Considered” and a host for the broadcast/podcast “Louisiana Considered”.
Kyle McKinnon is a producer for The Green with a passion for storytelling and connecting with people.