Every Leaf & Twig: Andrew Wyeth’s Botanical Imagination

Drawn primarily from the holdings of the Wyeth Foundation for American Art with work from the Farnsworth’s collection, Every Leaf & Twig presents over twenty never-exhibited-before watercolors and sketches of plant life that the artist found on walks and wanders throughout the midcoast, a landscape he knew well. The exhibition’s title comes from Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book Walden. Just as Thoreau celebrated the often-overlooked beauty of “every leaf and twig,” Wyeth developed a painting practice grounded in time spent alone outdoors, steeping himself in the mid-coast Maine ecosystem.

In addition to watercolors, sketches and drawings, the exhibition features a letter that includes a spontaneous picture or drawing, the artist’s paint box, and the artist’s father N.C. Wyeth’s personal copy of Thoreau’s Walden.

The exhibition will be celebrated during our First Friday Art Walk, October 6, from 4-7 p.m.

Click on the image below for details and a transcription of the materials enclosed in the exhibition’s case display!