This striking portrait depicts Willard Snowden, a drifter who lived in the artist’s Pennsylvania studio for several years and sat for several paintings in the mid-1960s. Wyeth used tempera and set him before a featureless background, elements characteristic of Renaissance portraiture—thereby elevating the humble sitter like the nobility typically featured in such paintings. Sensitively rendered at life-size in a palette of russet browns, the portrait is rich with subtle detail, from the texture of the man’s sweatshirt to the glint of light on his ear and collar. The title may be a reference to Snowden’s habit of greeting studio visitors with a glass of wine, or to the back of this panel, which Wyeth painted a ruby red.
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the artist, Chadds Ford, Penn. (1966; on consignment April 30–September 16, 1966 to M. Knoedler & Co., New York, consignment no. S 5337; sold on September 16, 1966 to Berls); Amanda K. Berls, New York (1966–67; jointly with MMA, 1967–78; her gift to MMA)
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Andrew Wyeth: Temperas, Watercolors, Dry Brush, Drawings, 1938 into 1966," October 8–November 27, 1966, no. 222 (lent by M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York).
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Andrew Wyeth: Temperas, Watercolors, Dry Brush, Drawings, 1938 into 1966," December 13, 1966–January 22, 1967, no. 222.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Andrew Wyeth: Temperas, Watercolors, Dry Brush, Drawings, 1938 into 1966," February 14–April 2, 1967, extended to April 9, 1967, no. 222.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Andrew Wyeth: Temperas, Watercolors, Dry Brush, Drawings, 1938 into 1966," April 21–June 4, 1967, no. 222.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Andrew Wyeth," July 17–September 6, 1970, no. 74 (lent by Amanda K. Berls and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ).
San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "The Art of Andrew Wyeth," June 16–September 3, 1973, unnumbered cat. (p. 148; lent by Amanda K. Berls and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Accessions, 1967–1974," March 7–April 23, 1974, no catalogue.
Moscow. State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Representations of America," December 15, 1977–February 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Leningrad. State Hermitage Museum. "Representations of America," March 15–May 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Minsk, Belarus. Palace of Art. "Representations of America," June 15–August 15, 1978, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Facing the Figure: Selected Works from the Collection, 1962–2007," May 28–September 6, 2010, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Kerry James Marshall Selects: Works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 25, 2016–January 29, 2017, no catalogue (p. 267 in "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry" exhibition catalogue).
Edgar P. Richardson. Andrew Wyeth: Temperas, Watercolors, Dry Brush, Drawings, 1938 into 1966. Exh. cat., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, 1966, pp. 108–9, no. 222, ill. (color).
Gordon F. Muck. "Andrew Wyeth's Exhibit A Must for Art Patrons." Post-Standard (Syracuse) (October 31, 1966), p. 14.
Don Murdaugh. "Wyeth's Paintings: 'Haunting, Natural'." Delaware County Daily Times (October 28, 1966), p. 13.
"Painting: The Preservationist." Time 88 (October 21, 1966), p. 88, ill.
Frederick A. Sweet. Andrew Wyeth. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 1970, p. 120, no. 74, ill.
Wanda M. Corn in Wanda M. Corn. The Art of Andrew Wyeth. Exh. cat., Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Boston, 1973, pp. 147–48, ill. (color).
Richard Meryman, ed. Andrew Wyeth: A Spoken Self-Portrait. Washington, D.C., 2013, ill. p. 60 (color).
Andrew Wyeth (American, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 1917–2009 Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania)
1952
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