Letter to William Phelps, page four
Date1948
Artist
Andrew Wyeth
(American painter, 1917–2009)
MediumInk on paper
Dimensionssheet: 10 1/4 × 7 1/4 in. (26 × 18.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mary M. R. Phelps, 1968
Object number1968-26.2a
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextWyeth describes a visit to the Herr house near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, built in 1719 by one of his mother's ancestors and refers to a letter written by Hans Herr. [Herr's December 1740 letter] tells of…a snow storm raging outdoors. The only light [was] from the fireplace. He states in a very interesting way that the room was filled with thirty Indians which made the room smell of bear grease which they rubbed themselves with to keep warm. Can't you picture this wonderful scene? I would picture it something like this.
In this letter, Andrew Wyeth described a visit he took with his aunt to the Christian Herr house near Lancaster, Pennsylvania which was built in 1713 by an early forbear of his mother's. Wyeth refers to this house as the "Hans Herr" house. In this letter to the Phelps's, Wyeth begins, "...here is a rough sketch of something the way it looks," and proceeds to describe and diagram the house. Wyeth, moved by emotion and imagination, seeks deeper knowledge of events and objects by rendering their details.
Physical/Intellectual
