Letter to Mary Phelps, page one

© Andrew Wyeth / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph and digital image © Delawar…
© Andrew Wyeth / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Letter to Mary Phelps, page one
© Andrew Wyeth / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not for reproduction or publication.

Letter to Mary Phelps, page one

DateJanuary 12, 1968
Artist (American painter, 1917–2009)
MediumInk and watercolor on paper
Dimensionssheet: 10 1/2 × 7 1/4 in. (26.7 × 18.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mary M. R. Phelps, 1968
Object number1968-34.1
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextIn this letter, Wyeth writes to the widowed Mary Phelps about an eerie and jolting occurrence during his morning's walk along a nearby frozen stream. "As I walked up the middle of the ice a sharp report like a gun shot sounded and a crack came down the middle of the ice toward me. It was remarkable...How often I think of Bill (Phelps) and what richness he gave to us all. We both seemed to enjoy the same things in nature and no one will ever take his place."


In this letter, Wyeth writes to the widowed Mary Phelps about an eerie and jolting occurrence during his morning's walk along the frozen race run of his Brinton Mill. "As I walked up the middle of the ice a sharp report like a gunshot sounded and a crack came down the middle of the ice toward me. It was remarkable...How often I think of Bill (Phelps) and what richness he gave to us all. We both seemed to enjoy the same things in nature and no one will ever take his place." On his walk, the grieving Wyeth braced himself against the tremor of the ice and the death of his friend.