Andrew Wyeth (American, 19??-2009). "The Clearing", 1985. The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. egg tempera and watercolor
Wyeth was, of course, as straight‑arrow as they come and painted hardly any male nudes — which makes this one feel like a delightful anomaly. The model was a young neighbor, Eric Standard. When the painting first appeared in Art & Antiques as part of a cover feature, another neighbor wrote to the magazine in the following issue to say he had instantly recognized “Eric Standard in all his glory.” Some communities really do keep their eyes open.
This is a cheeky addition, but I feel it's missing some background. First, to preface, Andrew's father (illustrator N.C. Wyeth) and his three year old nephew died horrifically when their car stalled on the train tracks near Andrew's home. His father's body was dragged by the train, and his nephew's body was thrown, his neck broken. Andrew was in his 20s at the time, and the deaths had an enormous impact on his art, especially when it came to painting men. Andrew himself has spoken and written about this on many occasions. He regretted never painting his father and has said the hillside near his home was as close to a portrait of his father as he would get. Most of his subsequent portraits of men depict a state of loss (or of being lost):
The Standards, whose sons were named Steven and Eric, were the Wyeth's neighbors. Andrew painted Steven's portrait (shirtless and sitting on the porch) in 1972. It was study for a later work called "Off at Sea." The study includes Steven, but the finished work notably does not. "Off at sea," by the way, is a phrase that refers to the death of men at sea (note the empty hanger in the finished painting):
A few years after Off at Sea was finished, Steven Standard died in a tragic accident that devastated the local community. Andrew has written about this as well.
A short time later, Andrew saw Steven's younger brother Eric walking along the road near his home, and the brothers looked so much alike that Andrew at first thought he was seeing Steven. After that encounter, he decided to paint Eric.
Anyway sorry for the infodump. I just feel like this is all important information to know when viewing one of the very few male nudes Andrew Wyeth ever painted.
