Letter to William Phelps, page one
DateJune 19, 1954
Artist
Andrew Wyeth
(American painter, 1917–2009)
MediumInk and watercolor on paper
Dimensionssheet: 10 3/8 × 7 1/4 in. (26.4 × 18.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mary M. R. Phelps, 1968
Object number1968-30.1a
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextWyeth tells of a boat trip he had taken that morning in Maine to Teel's Island. The Teel family had lived on the island for two generations, but Henry Teel had abandoned it for the mainland where he would die the next year. The island was alone…the only sound as I landed on the beach was the breaking of the water from the wake of my boat…I could see the Teel house just above the grass at the edge of the beach…I could see that it had not been used much of late.
The smell of this house is all New England to me. The blue of this wood box and the black of this wood stove.
In this letter, Wyeth relates a boat trip he has taken that morning in Maine, down the St. George River, to Teel's Island and home of Henry Teel. Henry Teel's family has inhabited the island for two generations, but Teel had abandoned it for the mainland where he would die the next year. The accompanying watercolor sketches resemble two consecutive motion pictures stills that recreate the artist's approach. Here, the viewer beholds the house from afar, beyond the water's edge and an expanse of marsh grass. Wyeth writes, "The island was alone...the only sound as I landed on the beach was the breaking water form the wake of my boat...I could see the Teel house just above the grass at the edge of the beach."
Physical/Intellectual
See-Also/See-Also
