In the painting Independence
Day, Andrew Wyeth portrays his longtime friend and neighbor Tom Clark sitting
on a porch alongside a billowing American flag. Clark lived in a small African
American community in Chadds Ford known as “Little Africa,” which had
originated as a Quaker stop on the Underground Railroad. Beginning in 1957,
Wyeth produced numerous drawings and watercolors of Clark, whose physical
features captivated the artist.
The composition and lighting are dramatic and suggestive of
the times. Painted in 1961 an important year in the civil rights movement I cannot
help but think Wyeth was making a social comment here. I like this analysis of
the work, “The composition isolates Tom
Clark from the flag, but this flag is broad and expansive, and capable of
extending freedom to all Americans.”
Happy Independence Day !!
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) Independence Day, watercolor on
paper, 14 x 20 inches
Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim
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