company name	Wyeth
company logo
company type	Subsidiary
foundation	(1860) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
location	Madison, New Jersey, United States
key people	Bernard J. Poussot, CEO, President and Vice Chairman of WyethRobert Essner, ChairmanJoseph Mahady, President, Global Business, Wyeth PharmaceuticalsJohn Wyeth, Founder
industry	Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare
products	Premarin,Effexor,Enbrel,(See more products.)
parent	Pfizer
revenue	US$ 22.40 billion (2008)
net income	US$ 4.616 billion (2008)
market cap	US$ 41 billion (Oct. 2008)
num employees	49,732 (2005)
homepage	www.wyeth.com }}

Wyeth, formerly one of the companies owned by American Home Products Corporation (AHP), was a pharmaceutical company. The company was based in Madison, New Jersey, USA. They were known for manufacturing the over-the-counter (OTC) drugs Robitussin and the analgesic Advil (ibuprofen), as well as the prescription drugs Premarin and Effexor, which both boast over US$3 billion in sales annually.

On January 23, 2009 ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Pfizer was in talks to buy Wyeth at a cost of US$68 billion. On January 25, Pfizer agreed to the purchase, a deal financed with cash, shares and loans. The deal was completed on October 15, 2009.

History

1860–1899

In 1860, pharmacists John and Frank Wyeth opened a drugstore with a small research lab on Walnut Street in Philadelphia. In 1862, on the suggestion of doctors, they began to manufacture large quantities of commonly ordered medicines. They were successful, and in 1864 they began supplying medicines and beef extract to the Union army during the Civil War.

In 1872, Henry Bower, an employee of Wyeth, developed one of the first rotary compressed tablet machines in the United States. This enabled the mass production of medicines with unprecedented precision and speed. It was successful, and the Wyeth brothers won multiple awards at the Centennial Exhibition. In 1883, Wyeth opened its first international facility in Montreal, Canada and began vaccine production. Six years later a fire destroyed the brothers' original Walnut Street store, and they sold the retail business and focused on mass production.

1900–1929

John Wyeth died in 1907 and his only son, Stuart, became the company's president. American Home Products, the holding company now known as Wyeth, was incorporated on February 4, 1926. The Whitehall building in downtown Manhattan became the corporation's first headquarters. Global sales increased due to the sales of Wyeth's Kolynos brand of toothpaste. In 1929, Stuart Wyeth died and left controlling interest to Harvard University.

1930–1949

In 1930, Wyeth purchased Anacin, a product for tension headaches which quickly became the company's flagship product. One year later, Harvard sold Wyeth to American Home Products for US$2.9 million.

In 1935, Alvin G. Brush, a Certified Public Accountant, became CEO of the organization and served for 30 years. Under Brush's leadership, 34 new companies were acquired in 15 years, including Chef Boyardee and the ''S.M.A. Corporation'', a pharmaceutical firm specializing in infant formulas. Wyeth also made its first licensing deal, acquiring an antibiotic for arthritis vaccine research.

In 1941, the US entered World War II, and Wyeth shipped typical wartime drugs such as sulfa bacteriostatics, blood plasma, typhus vaccine, quinine, and atabrine tablets. Wyeth was later rewarded for its contribution to the war effort. During this time, Wyeth launched its penicillin research facility with G. Raymond Rettew.

In 1943, Wyeth purchased ''G. Washington Coffee Refining Company'', an instant coffee company created by George Washington.

In 1943, Wyeth merged with ''Ayerst, McKenna and Harrison, Ltd.'' of Canada. With this merger came Premarin, the world's first conjugated estrogen medicine, which was a flagship product for Wyeth until 2002, when preliminary results from the Women's Health Initiative linked it to a number of negative effects, including increased risk for breast cancer. Sales subsequently fell off worldwide.

Wyeth was one of 22 companies selected by the government in 1944 to manufacture penicillin for the military, and later for the general public.

In 1945, Wyeth acquired the Fort Dodge Serum Company, entering the animal health field.

1950–1969

In 1951, Wyeth launched Antabuse, a drug for the treatment of alcoholism, as well as the antihistamine Phenergan. Ansolyen was launched the next year as a high blood pressure medication. The anticonvulsant Mysoline was introduced in 1954. Other drugs introduced during this time include Isordil, a vasodilator for treatment of angina, Dryvax, a freeze-dried smallpox vaccine, and Ovral, a combined oral contraceptive pill. Pharmaceuticals were generating an ever-increasing percentage of Wyeth's sales.

Wyeth became a leading US vaccine producer after supplying polio vaccine for Salk trials. The corporate headquarters were moved to Radnor, Pennsylvania, where they remained until 2003. William F. Laporte became the Chairman and President of AHP in 1965, and served until 1981.

The World Health Organization initiated the Global Smallpox Eradication Program in 1967, and approached Wyeth to develop a better injection system for smallpox vaccines which could be used in the field. Wyeth waived patent royalties on its innovative bifurcated needle, aiding in the delivery of over 200 million smallpox vaccines per year.

1970–1989

Wyeth's oral contraceptives became popular in the US. John W. Culligan, after becoming Chairman and CEO in 1981, spun off less profitable lines and focused resources on consumer and prescription drugs. Wyeth made history in 1984 with the introduction of Advil, the first nonprescription ibuprofen in America, as well as the most famous prescription-to-OTC switch in history.

John R. Stafford became CEO and Chairman in 1986. He completed the divestiture of non-core businesses such as household products, foods, and candy. Wyeth and Ayerst merged to form Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, thus strengthening and consolidating Wyeth's pharmaceutical operations.

In the late 1980s, Wyeth acquired the animal health businesses of Bristol-Myers and Parke-Davis. Wyeth also acquired A.H. Robins, makers of Robitussin, ChapStick, Dimetapp, and the Dalkon Shield.

1990–1999

In 1990, the Boyle-Midway division of American Home Products is acquired by Reckitt & Colman (now Reckitt Benckiser).

Premarin becomes the #1 prescribed drug in the US in 1993. Effexor (venlafaxine HCl), the first serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), is introduced for the treatment of clinical depression and is later indicated for generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder.

In 1993, Wyeth founded the ''Women's Health Research Institute'', the only institute in the pharmaceutical industry entirely dedicated to research in women's health. The Institute conducts trials in menopausal issues, endometriosis, contraception, and more.

In 1994, Wyeth acquired American Cyanamid and its subsidiary Lederle Laboratories. This acquisition brought the Lederle Praxis vaccines, new research and development capacity, and Centrum, the leading US multivitamin. Wyeth's sales topped US$13 billion in 1995; two years later, Premarin became the company's first brand to reach US$1 billion in sales.

In 1995, Wyeth acquired the animal health division of Solvay, which was folded into Fort Dodge Animal Health. The acquisition gave Fort Dodge Animal Health strong market presence in Europe and Asia as well as expanding its product portfolio to include swine and poultry vaccines.

In 1996, American Home Products spun off its food unit as International Home Foods. International Home Foods was purchased by ConAgra Foods in 2000.

In 1997, Wyeth's controversial diet drug fenfluramine was taken off the market by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after several reports of deaths and other health problems associated with the drug combination known as fen-phen occurred.

In 1998, American Home Products was left at the altar by British pharma powerhouse SmithKline Beecham, who pulled the plug on the estimated $70 billion merger. The deal was reportedly killed in response to British regulators who feared losing jobs to a proposed US headquarters location. (SmithKline Beecham merged with fellow Brit Glaxo Wellcome in 1999 to form the world's leading drug company.) This was the start of a three-year losing streak in the mergers and acquisitions game for AHP.

In 1999, another American Home Products merger fell through, this time a proposed $34 billion merger-of-equals with chemical and biotech manufacturer Monsanto Company. Though the companies issued a combined statement saying the breakup was mutual "because (the deal) was not in the best interests of shareholders," rumors circulated that AHP had canceled the deal due to issues in the soon-to-be-combined boardroom. (Monsanto announced in December 1999 that it would merge with Pharmacia & Upjohn instead; the new conglomerate eventually unloaded Monsanto again, before being bought themselves by Pfizer in 2003.)

2000–2009

In 2000, American Home Products lost a US$65 billion friendly takeover bid for rival drug company Warner-Lambert in their most dramatic merger loss yet. After the merger announcement, Pfizer offered a competing hostile bid, primarily to save their half of a Lipitor joint venture with Warner (at the time the #1 prescription drug in the world). At one point talks were under way in which Procter & Gamble would help by buying both companies in a wild three-way merger, a rumor which cost P&G; a 10% drop in its stock price. Eventually, despite both CEOs going on tour to defend the deal to shareholders, Pfizer won Warner-Lambert and formed the second largest drug company in the world, while AHP had to settle for a US$1.8 billion poison-pill payment.

Robert Essner, the company's former CEO, was appointed in 2001. On September 27, 2007, the Wyeth Board of Directors elected Bernard Poussot President and Chief Executive Officer effective on January 1, 2008.

In 2002, American Home Products changed its name to Wyeth, having spun off unrelated businesses in order to focus on pharmaceuticals.

As part of the Women's Health Initiative sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, a large-scale clinical trial for Hormone Replacement Therapy showed that long-term use of progestin and estrogen may increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, and breast cancer. Following these results, Wyeth experienced a significant decline in its sales of Premarin, Prempro (conjugated equine estrogens) and related hormones, from over $2 billion in 2002 to just over $1 billion in 2006. The results from the study were significant enough that Wyeth terminated the trials early due to a fear that their participants may be at risk.

Wyeth, as a corporation, filed a 'citizens complaint' with the United States FDA on October 16, 2005, requesting that the US FDA take action against pharmacies who compound, manufacture, or sell unlicensed Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) drugs to their patients. Specifically, Wyeth asserted that the BHRT drugs are not licensed by the FDA according to section 505 of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, misbranded and adulterated per sections 501 and 502 of 21 U.S.C. (paragraphs 351, 352, and 355). Drug manufacturers are required to demonstrate through clinical trials that marketed drugs are safe and efficacious, a process that BHRT drugs have not undergone. If honored, the request would require the same safety and efficacy data for those primarily engaged in alternative medicine.

The European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection blamed the presence of illegal steroids in the food supply on "fraudulent exchange and disposal of pharmaceutical waste". A Wyeth factory disposing of the byproducts from synthetic progesterone manufacture was the source of the contamination.

In 2003 Wyeth reportedly contributed funds to a not-for-profit support group, The Meningitis Centre, which lobbied the Australian Government to introduce universal immunisation against pneumococcal disease. Wyeth produced the only pneumococcal vaccine approved for young children in Australia.

In 2008 the CFO and CEO were replaced.

During June 2009, an Arkansas federal judge granted public access to evidence that Wyeth Pharmaceuticals “ghostwrote� medical articles regarding its hormone therapy drug Prempro. Along with ''The New York Times'', PLoS Medicine, represented by the law firm Public Justice, had sought to intervene in a court case of women bringing an action in relation to Prempro and other hormone therapy drugs, in order to unseal papers that allegedly showed that Wyeth failed to disclose its role in preparing medical journal articles promoting Prempro and in recruiting academic authors to put their names on the articles for publication—that is that they practised ghost writing.

On October 15, 2009 Pfizer signed the final acquisition papers making Wyeth a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer, thus completing the US$68 billion dollar deal.

Divisions

Wyeth Consumer Healthcare

''Wyeth Consumer Healthcare'' (formerly Whitehall-Robins Consumer Healthcare) operates in over 65 countries. The division had sales of $2.5 billion in 2004 and is the fifth largest over-the-counter health products company in the world.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

''Wyeth Pharmaceuticals'', formerly Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, is the original company founded by the Wyeth brothers, originally known as John Wyeth and Brother. They focus on the research, development, and marketing of prescription drugs. The pharmaceuticals division is further subdivided into five subdivisions: Wyeth Research, Prescription Products, Biotech, Vaccines, and Nutritionals. Wyeth's research and development director Robert Ruffolo has been quoted in the ''New York Times'' about the firm's efforts to develop new drugs.

Fort Dodge Animal Health

''Fort Dodge Animal Health'' was founded in 1912 by Daniel E. Baughman as "Fort Dodge Serum Company". The company was established in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to manufacture hog cholera serum. It became a division of American Home Products (now Wyeth) in 1945. They are a leading manufacturer of prescription and over-the-counter vaccines and pharmaceuticals for veterinary medicine as well as livestock. Its global headquarters are located in Overland Park, Kansas. Pfizer plans to divest some of the Fort Dodge Animal Health products it acquired with Wyeth.

Innovative Fort Dodge products include West Nile-Innovator, Duramune Adult, CYDECTIN Pour-on, the Pyramid vaccine line, Quest Gel, and EtoGesic Tablets.

Products

Wyeth Consumer Healthcare Products

Advil

Advil LiquiGels

Advil PM

Alavert

Anadin

Anbesol

Caltrate

Centrum

Centrum Silver/Select

ChapStick

Clusivol

Clusivol Power-C(Syrup for kids and Tablet for adults)

Children's Clusivol

Dimetapp

Dristan

Fibrosine

Incremin

Loviscol

Polymagma

Preparation H

Robitussin

Robikids

Robitol (now defunct)

Simeco

Stresstabs

Today condoms

Z-bec

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Products

Ativan (lorazepam); a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety, insomnia, and certain seizures

Effexor/Effexor XR (venlafaxine HCl); an SNRI for clinical depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder

Enbrel (etanercept); a drug approved for Psoriasis and various forms of Rheumatoid Arthritis (co-marketed by Amgen)

Lybrel ;A breakthrough birth control medication that went on the market in 2008, Wyeth put more into the advertising of this drug than any other medicine previously.

Premarin (conjugated estrogen tablets); Estrogen HRT for menopausal women

Premarin Vaginal Cream (conjugated estrogens) indicated to treat vaginal dryness at menopause

Prevnar ; vaccine to protect children from pneumococcal disease

Pristiq (desvenlafaxine); a newly approved antidepressant for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD)

Protonix (pantoprazole); a proton pump inhibitor for treating dyspepsia, duodenal ulcers and Oesophagitis

Relistor (methylnaltrexone); a newly approved drug for constipation induced by opioids (co-marketed with Progenics)

Torisel (temsirolimus); a drug approved for the treatment of Renal Cell Carcinoma (a type of cancer).

Tygacil (tigecycline); an antibiotic developed for treatment of intra-abdominal and skin / tissue infections caused by resistant pathogens such as MRSA

Xyntha (Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), Plasma/Albumin-Free); a new form of AHF, recently approved by the US FDA

Zosyn (piperacillin/tazobactam); another intravenous antibiotic used mainly in intensive care medicine. Also known as ''Tazocin'' in some countries.

Fort Dodge Animal Health Products

Barricade

Biodectin Sheep Vaccine and wormer (moxidectin)

Bursine-2/Bursine Plus/Bursine K Poultry Vaccines

Cefa-Lak/Cefa-Dri

CYDECTIN (moxidectin)

Dicural

Duramune Dog Vaccines

Duvaxyn Horse Vaccines

EtoGesic Tablets

Ewegaurd Sheep Vaccine and wormer (moxidectin)

Fel-O-Guard Cat Vaccines

Fel-O-Vax Cat Vaccines

Fluvac Innovator Horse Vaccine

GiardiaVax Dog Vaccine

Ketaset

LeptoVax Dog Vaccine

LymeVax Dog Vaccine

Nolvasan

PestVac Pig Vaccine

Pinnacle I.N. Horse Vaccine

Pneumobort Horse Vaccine

Polyflex

Poulvac Poultry Vaccines

Presponse Cattle Vaccines

ProHeart 6/ProHeart SR-12 (moxidectin) Heartworm preventative

ProMeris for dogs and cats

Provac Poultry Vaccines

PYRAMID Cattle Vaccines

Quest/Equest Gel (moxidectin)

Rabon Ear Tags for Cattle

Rabvac Rabies Vaccine for Dogs

Supona

Suvaxyn Pig Vaccines

Synanthic

SYNOVEX Implants

Telazol

ToDAY/ToMORROW

Torbugesic-SA

Triangle Cattle Vaccines

TriReo Poultry Vaccine

Vetdectin (moxidectin) (New Zealand)

Weanerguard Sheep Vaccine and wormer (moxidectin)

Websters Cattle, Sheep and Poultry Vaccines (Australia)

West Nile Innovater Horse Vaccine

Wyeth Milk Products

Prenatal

*Materna

*Wyeth MAMA

Hospital

*S-26 HMF

S-26 LBW GOLD

First Age

*S-26

*S-26 Gold

*Bonna

Second Age

*Bonamil

*Promil

*Promil Gold

Third Age (Stage 3)

*Bonakid

*Progress Gold

*Promil Kid

Fourth Age (Stage 4)

*Bonakid Pre-School

*Promil Pre-School

*Progress Pre-School Gold

Special Feeder

*Nursoy

*Procal Lactose-Free

*Promil Lactose-Free

*Promise Lactose-Free

*S-26 Lactose-Free

Adult

*Enercal Plus

Prevnar

On July 1, 2006, Wyeth launched Prevnar — its international vaccine for Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD) — in India. Prevnar is the first and only pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for infants and children which protects against pneumococcal disease like meningitis, bacterial pneumonia, septicaemia and bacteraemia (bacteria in the blood.)

Controversies

Rapamune

A "whistleblower suit" was filed against Wyeth in 2005 alleging that the company illegally marketed their drug Rapamune. Wyeth is targeted in the suit for off-label marketing, targeting specific doctors and medical facilities to increased sales of Rapamune, trying to get current transplant patients to change from their current transplant drugs to Rapamune and for specifically targeting African-Americans. According to the whistleblowers, Wyeth also provided doctors and hospitals with kickbacks to prescribe the drug in the form of grants, donations and other money. A US House of Representatives committee, led by Rep. Edolphus Towns is investigating Wyeth for these abuses.

Prempro

Wyeth was sued for its marketing of Prempro, a hormone replacement therapy, which was implicated in the cancers of 14,000 patients. Wyeth was particularly criticised by observers for its use of 'ghostwriters' to put their names to research papers that Wyeth had paid a third party, DesignWrite, to prepare.

References

External links

Wyeth.com

Wyeth HCP Portal

Fort Dodge Animal Health

Fort Dodge Australia

Fort Dodge Brazil

Fort Dodge Europe

Fort Dodge Mexico

Wyeth Animal Health Canada

Wyeth Company Profile and News Archive from Pharmaceutical Business Review

Wyeth/AHP history from the Harvard Business School

Tygacil - tigecycline IV

Zosyn (tazobactam / piperacillin)

Wyeth stock quote & historical chart

The Meningitis Centre

Effexor XR

Pristiq

ProMeris

Suvaxyn PCV-2

Category:Pfizer Category:Companies established in 1860 Category:Multinational companies Category:Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Category:Companies based in Morris County, New Jersey Category:Companies based in Rockland County, New York Category:Madison, New Jersey Category:Vaccine producers

de:Wyeth es:Wyeth fr:Wyeth ja:ワイス (�業) ro:Wyeth ru:Wyeth sv:Wyeth th:ไวเอต tr:Wyeth zh:惠�

name	Andrew Wyeth
birth date	July 12, 1917
birth place	Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania,United States
death date	January 16, 2009
death place	Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania,United States
resting place	Hathorn Cemetery Cushing, Maine
occupation	Realist painter }}

Andrew Newell Wyeth ( ; 1917–2009) was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century.

In his art, Wyeth's favorite subjects were the land and people around him, both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and at his summer home in Cushing, Maine. One of the most well-known images in 20th-century American art is his painting, ''Christina's World'', currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Biography

Childhood

thumb|N.C. Wyeth in his studio with a cowboy modelAndrew Wyeth was the youngest of the five children of illustrator and artist N.C. (Newell Convers) Wyeth and his wife, Carolyn Bockius Wyeth. He was born July 12, 1917 on Henry Thoreau's one hundredth birthday. Due to N.C.'s fond appreciation of Henry Thoreau, he found this both coincidental and exciting. N.C. was an attentive father, fostering each of the children's interests and talents. The family was close, spending time reading together, taking walks, fostering "a closeness with nature" and developing a feeling for Wyeth family history.

Andrew was home-tutored because of his frail health. Like his father, the young Wyeth read and appreciated the poetry of Robert Frost and writings of Henry Thoreau and studied their relationships with nature. Music and movies also heightened his artistic sensitivity. One major influence, discussed at length by Wyeth himself was King Vidor's The Big Parade. He claims to have seen the film which depicted family dynamics similar to his own, "a hundred-and-eighty-times" and believes it had the greatest influence on his work. The film's director Vidor later made a documentary, ''Metaphor'' where he and Wyeth discuss the influence of the film on his paintings, including ''Winter 1946'', ''Snow Flurries'', ''Portrait of Ralph Kline'' and ''Afternoon Flight of a Boy up a Tree.''

Wyeth's father was the only teacher that he had. Due to being schooled at home, he led both a sheltered life and one that was "obsessively focused". Wyeth recalled of that time: "Pa kept me almost in a jail, just kept me to himself in my own world, and he wouldn’t let anyone in on it. I was almost made to stay in [ Robin Hood's ] Sherwood Forest with Maid Marion and the rebels."

In the 1920s Wyeth's father had become a celebrity and the family often had celebrities as guests, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Mary Pickford. The home bustled with creative activity and competition. N.C. and Carolyn's five children were all talented. Henriette Wyeth Hurd, the eldest, became a well-known painter of portraits and still lifes. Carolyn, the second child, was also a painter. Nathaniel Wyeth the third child a successful inventor. Ann, was a musician at a young age, then became a composer as an adult. Andrew was the youngest child.

N.C. Wyeth's guidance

Wyeth started drawing at a young age. He was a draftsman before he could read. By the time he was a teenager, his father brought him into his studio for the only art lessons he ever had. N.C. inspired his son's love of rural landscapes, sense of romance and artistic traditions. Although creating illustrations was not a passion he wished to pursue, Wyeth produced illustrations under his father's name while in his teens.

With his father’s guidance, he mastered figure study and watercolor, and later learned egg tempera from his brother-in-law Peter Hurd. He studied art history on his own, admiring many masters of Renaissance and American painting, especially Winslow Homer.

N.C. also fostered an inner self-confidence to follow one's own talents without thought of how the work is received. N.C. wrote in a letter to Wyeth in 1944:

"The great men [ Thoreau, Goethe, Emerson, Tolstoy] forever radiate a sharp sense of that profound requirement of an artist, to fully understand that ''consequences'' of what he creates are unimportant. Let the motive for action be in the action itself and not in the event. I know from my own experience that when I create with any degree of strength and beauty I have no thought of consequences. Anyone who creates for ''effect'' — to score a hit — does not know what he is missing!"

In the same letter N.C. correlates being a great man with being a great painter: To be a great artist, he described, requires emotional depth, an openness, to look beyond self to the subject, and passion. A great painting then is one that enriches and broadens one's perspective.

In October 1945, his father and his three-year-old nephew, Newell Convers Wyeth II (b. 1941), were killed when their car stalled on railroad tracks near their home and was struck by a train. Wyeth referred to his father's death as a formative emotional event in his artistic career, in addition to being a personal tragedy. Shortly afterwards, Wyeth's art consolidated into his mature and enduring style.

Marriage and issue

In 1940, Wyeth married Betsy James whom he met in 1939 in Maine. Christina Olson, who would become the model for the iconic ''Christina's World,'' met Wyeth through an introduction by Betsy. His wife, Betsy, had an influence with Andrew as strong as that of his father. She played an important role managing his career. She was once quoted as saying "I am a director and I had the greatest actor in the world."

Their first child Nicholas was born in 1943, followed by James ("Jamie") three years later. Wyeth painted portraits of both children. His son, Jamie Wyeth, followed his father's and grandfather's footsteps, becoming the third generation of Wyeth artists.

"Three Generations of Wyeth Art"

N.C. Wyeth was an illustrator famous for his work portrayed in magazines, posters and advertisements. He also created illustrations for books such as "Treasure Island" and "The Last of the Mohicans." Andrew would be the role model and teacher to his son Jamie that his father N.C. had been to him. Their story and artistic history is told in James H. Duff's "An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art."

Death

On January 16, 2009, Andrew Wyeth died in his sleep in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, after a brief illness. He was 91 years old.

Work

In 1937, at age twenty, Wyeth had his first one-man exhibition of watercolors at the Macbeth Gallery in New York City. The entire inventory of paintings sold out, and his life path seemed certain. His style was different from his father’s: more spare, "drier," and more limited in color range. He stated his belief that "…the great danger of the Pyle school is picture-making." He did some book illustrations in his early career, but not to the extent that N.C. Wyeth did.

Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily classified as a realist painter, like Winslow Homer or Eakins. In a "Life Magazine" article in 1965, Wyeth said that although he was thought of as a realist, he thought of himself as an abstractionist: "My people, my objects breathe in a different way: there’s another core — an excitement that’s definitely abstract. My God, when you really begin to peer into something, a simple object, and realize the profound meaning of that thing — if you have an emotion about it, there’s no end."

He worked predominantly in a regionalist style. In his art, Wyeth's favorite subjects were the land and people around him, both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and at his summer home in Cushing, Maine.

Dividing his time between Pennsylvania and Maine, Wyeth maintained a realist painting style for over fifty years. He gravitated to several identifiable landscape subjects and models. His solitary walks were the primary means of inspiration for his landscapes. He developed an extraordinary intimacy with the land and sea and strove for a spiritual understanding based on history and unspoken emotion. He typically created dozens of studies on a subject in pencil or loosely brushed watercolor before executing a finished painting, either in watercolor, drybrush (a watercolor style in which the water is squeezed from the brush), or egg tempera.

Christina Olson

thumb|250px|left|''Christina's World''1948Museum of Modern Art, New York City It was at the Olson farm in Cushing, Maine that he painted ''Christina's World'' (1948). Perhaps his most famous image, it depicts his neighbor, Christina Olson, sprawled on a dry field facing her house in the distance. Wyeth was quite inspired by his neighbor, who, because of an unknown illness resulting in her inability to walk, spent much time on the property surrounding her house.

The Olson house has been preserved, renovated to match its appearance in ''Christina's World''. It is open to the public as a part of the Farnsworth Art Museum.

Wyeth created nearly 300 drawings, watercolor and tempera paintings, mostly in a palette of gold, charcoal, brown and blue. Because of Wyeth's popularity, the property was designated a National Historic Landmark in June 2011.

A short distance from the house near the water is the Hathorn family cemetery which includes the burial place of Christina Olson, her brother Alvaro and Andrew Wyeth. In a 2007 interview, Wyeth's granddaughter, Victoria , revealed he wanted to be buried near Christina and the spot where he painted ''Christina's World''.

Kuerner's Farm

Also in 1948, he began painting Anna and Karl Kuerner, his neighbors in Chadds Ford. Like the Olsons, the Kuerners and their farm were one of Wyeth's most important subjects for nearly 30 years. Wyeth stated about the Kuerner Farm, "I didn’t think it a picturesque place. It just excited me, purely abstractly and purely emotionally."

The Kuerners' farm is available to tour through the Brandywine River Museum, as is the nearby N. C. Wyeth House and Studio; in 2011, the farm was declared a National Historic Landmark, based on its association with Wyeth.

Helga paintings

In 1986, extensive coverage was given to the revelation of a series of 247 studies of the Prussian-born Helga Testorf, whom Wyeth met while she was attending to Karl Kuerner at his farm. Wyeth painted her over the period 1971–85 without the knowledge of either his wife or Helga's husband, John Testorf. The paintings were stored at the nearby home of Frolic Weymouth, his student and good friend. Helga, a musician, baker, caregiver, and friend of the Wyeths, had never modeled before, but quickly became comfortable with the long periods of posing, during which he observed and painted her in intimate detail. The Helga pictures are not an obvious psychological study of the subject, but more an extensive study of her physical landscape set within Wyeth's customary landscapes. She is nearly always portrayed as unsmiling and passive; yet, within those deliberate limitations, Wyeth manages to convey subtle qualities of character and mood, as he does in many of his best portraits. This extensive study of one subject studied in differing contexts and emotional states is unique in American art.

In 1986, millionaire Leonard E.B. Andrews (1925–2009) purchased almost the entire collection, preserving it intact. Wyeth had already given a few Helga paintings to friends, including the famous ''Lovers'', which had been given as a gift to Wyeth's wife.

The works were exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in 1987 and in a nationwide tour.

In a 2007 Interview, when Wyeth was asked if Helga was going to be at his 90th birthday party, he said "Yeah, certainly. Oh, absolutely" and went on to say "She's part of the family now, I know it shocks everyone. That's what I love about it. It really shocks 'em."

Other main works

Inspired by Winslow Homer's watercolors, Wyeth painted an impressionistic watercolor, ''Coot Hunter'', about 1933. There he experimented with the "fleeting effects of light and movement". ''Public Sale'', made by Wyeth in 1943, is one of his first tempera paintings. After N.C. Wyeth's death, his work began to take on a melancholic tone. Wyeth painted ''Winter 1946'' of a boy, rolling down a hill, his hand reaching out. The location of the work was the other side of the hill where his father had died and represented the unsettling, free-falling sense of loss. ''Brown Swiss'' made in 1957 is one of many paintings he made from the 1950s to the 1970s of Karl and Anna Kuerlner's farm in Chadds Ford. The painting is named after the Brown Swiss cows in the picture.

In 1958, Andrew and Betsy Wyeth purchased and restored "The Mill," a group of 18th-century buildings that appeared often in his work, including ''Night Sleeper'' (1979).

''Garret Room'' was begun in watercolor and finished with the drybrush technique. This work was made in 1962. Wyeth began to add portraits in the 1960s, such as ''Up in the Studio'' made with drybrush in 1965 of his sister Carolyn. In works such as ''The Patriot,'' a portrait of Ralph Cline, Wyeth looked beyond the surface to understand who he was painting. Cline was an interesting gentleman 71 years of age, of Native American heritage and Maine humor. He wore a big hat and overalls and chewed tobacco. It was through painting him, though, that Wyeth understood that, beneath his humor and hard countenance, Cline was a warm-hearted veteran of great dignity and intellect. When Christina Olsen died in the winter of 1969, Wyeth refocused his artistic attention upon Siri Erickson, capturing her naked innocence in ''Indian Summer'' (1970). It was a prelude to the Helga paintings. ''Ring Road'' made in 1985 reflects the earth tones that Wyeth used throughout his career.

Critical reaction

thumb|175px|Andrew Wyeth, ''Late Fall'', watercolor on paper, 67.3cm × 47cm, 1981 Wyeth's art has long been controversial. He developed technically beautiful works, had a large following and developed a considerable fortune as a result. Yet there has been conflicting views of his work by critics, curators and historians about the importance of his work. Art historian Robert Rosenblum was asked in 1977 to identify the "most overrated and the least overrated" artist in the 20th century. He provided one name for both categories: Andrew Wyeth.

Admirers of Wyeth's art believe that his paintings, in addition to their pictorial formal beauty, contain strong emotional currents, symbolic content, and underlying abstraction. Most observers of his art agree that he is skilled at handling the media of egg tempera (which uses egg yolk as its medium) and watercolor. Wyeth avoided using traditional oil paints. His use of light and shadow let the subjects illuminate the canvas. His paintings and titles suggest sound, as is implied in many paintings, including ''Distant Thunder'' (1961) and ''Spring Fed'' (1967). ''Christina's World'' became an iconic image, a status unmet to even the best paintings, "that registers as an emotional and cultural reference point in the minds of millions."

Wyeth created work in sharp contrast to abstraction, which gained currency in American art and critical thinking in the middle of the 20th century.

Museum exhibitions of Wyeth's paintings have set attendance records, but many art critics have evaluated his work less favorably. Peter Schjeldahl, art critic for ''The Village Voice'', derided his paintings as "Formulaic stuff, not very effective even as illustrational 'realism.' " Some found Wyeth's art of rural subject matter tired and oversweet.

Bo Bartlett, a close friend and student of Wyeth, commented on his teacher's view of this criticism during an interview with Brian Sherwin in 2008: "People only make you swerve. I won’t show anybody anything I’m working on. If they hate it, it’s a bad thing, and if they like it, it’s a bad thing. An artist has to be ingrown to be any good." N.C. advised Wyeth to work from one's own perspective and imagination; to work for "effect" means the artist is not fully exploring their artistic abilities and as a result the artist will not realize their potential.

Museum collections

Andrew Wyeth's work is located in: The collections of most major American museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the National Gallery of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Cincinnati Art Museum; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City; and the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock. President George W. Bush and Laura Bush decorated a room of the White House in Washington, DC with paintings from their collection. Especially large collections of the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine; and the Greenville County Museum of Art in Greenville, South Carolina. Museum collections throughout the world, including the National Museum of Modem Art in Tokyo; the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg; the Palazzo Reale in Milan; and the Academic des Beaux Arts, Paris, among many other museums.

Honors and awards

Wyeth was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees. 2007, the National Medal of Arts. 1988, the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States legislature. 1987, a D.F.A. from Bates College. 1980, the first living United States artist to be elected to Britain's Royal Academy. 1977, the first American artist since John Singer Sargent to be elected to the French Académie des Beaux-Arts. 1965, the gold medal for painting from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. 1963, the first painter to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He also received numerous honorary degrees.

In popular culture

Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (a longtime admirer) often referred to Wyeth in his comic strip, ''Peanuts''. Fred Rogers, of the PBS television series ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'', had a reproduction of a Wyeth painting in the entry of the studio "home". Tom Duffield, the production designer for the American remake of ''The Ring'' (2002), was inspired by Wyeth's paintings for the look of the film. M. Night Shyamalan based his movie ''The Village'' (2004) on paintings by Andrew Wyeth. The director Philip Ridley stated that his film ''The Reflecting Skin'' (1990) is inspired in its visual style by the paintings of Wyeth. The Helga series of paintings was the inspiration for the 1987 album ''Man of Colours'' by the Australian band Icehouse. In the "Springfield Up," 2007 episode of ''The Simpsons,'' Mr. Burns has a painting of ''Christina's World'' in his den, except he is pictured instead. In his autobiography ''Man With A Camera'', cinematographer Nestor Almendros cites Wyeth as one of the inspirations for the look of the film ''Days of Heaven''. In the graphic novel series ''Preacher (comics),'' issue 43 is named after the painting of ''Christina's World'' The painting is also referenced throughout the series.

Resources

Suggested reading

''Autobiography'' by Andrew Wyeth, Bulfinch Press,USA ISBN 978- 0821222171

Meryman, R.: ''Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life'', HarperCollins 1996. ISBN 0-06-017113-8.

Meryman, Richard. '(May 1, 1998) 'Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life''. Paperback, 464 pages. Harper Collins Publishers ISBN 9780060929213; ISBN 0060929219.

Meryman, Richard. (July, 1991) "The Wyeth Family: American Visions." National Geographic.

Mongan, A.: ''Andrew Wyeth: Dry Brush And Pencil Drawings'', Little Brown & Co (T) 1966. ISBN 0821201700.

Wyeth, A.: ''Andrew Wyeth: Autobiography'', by Thomas Hoving (Contributor), Andrew Wyeth (Contributor), Bulfinch Press 2007. ISBN 1568526547.

"Andrew Wyeth: Self-Portrait - Snow Hill", authorized documentary, Chip Taylor Communications, 60 min, 1999, vhs ISBN 157192356X

"Andrew Wyeth: Self-Portrait - Snow Hill", authorized documentary, Chip Taylor Communications, 60 min, 2003, DVD ISBN 1571925570

"Andrew Wyeth: Autobiography" by Thomas Hoving (Contributor), Andrew Wyeth (Contributor)

See also

Tenants Harbor Light

References

External links

Andrew Wyeth's website

Brandywine River Museum

Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center

Smithsonian Magazine Article on Andrew Wyeth

AP Obituary from the Philadelphia Inquirer

Michael Kimmelman, Obituary, NY Times

Genre Art Advocacy Center

An account by Andrew Wyeth of his approach to painting in Life magazine, May 14, 1965

MVTV interview on Jim Powell Report of William Waterway Marks about his 1977 visit with Andrew Wyeth during his 7,500 mile horseback trek across America, includes William's rare photos of Andrew Wyeth painting en plein air in Cushing, Maine

President Bush's Statement on Death of Andrew Wyeth, January 16, 2009

Andrew Wyeth at MuseumSyndicate

Artnet — Andrew Wyeth

World'' in the MoMA Online Collection

Category:1917 births Category:2009 deaths Category:American painters Category:Artists from Pennsylvania Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Category:Modern painters Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:Wyeth family

ar:أندرو واÙ?Ø« cs:Andrew Wyeth de:Andrew Wyeth es:Andrew Wyeth fa:اندرو وایت fr:Andrew Wyeth haw:Andrew Wyeth it:Andrew Wyeth la:Andreas Wyeth lb:Andrew Wyeth hu:Andrew Wyeth mi:Andrew Wyeth nl:Andrew Wyeth ja:アンドリュー・ワイエス nn:Andrew Wyeth pt:Andrew Wyeth ru:Уайет, ЭндрÑ? se:Andrew Wyeth fi:Andrew Wyeth sv:Andrew Wyeth uk:ЕндрÑ? Ваєт zh:安德魯·é­?æ–¯

Katya Wyeth (b. January 1, 1948) is a German-born model and actress notable for her roles in several classic horror films of the 1960s and '70s. Her name sometimes appears as 'Katya Wyath' or 'Kathja Wyeth'.

Katya Wyeth appeared in the films ''Hands of the Ripper'' (1971) and ''Burke and Hare'' (1972). Her best-remembered role is probably as 'Countess Mircalla' in the 'Hammer horror' film ''Twins of Evil'' (1971), where she appeared alongside Peter Cushing.

Katya Wyeth was the actress famously seen frolicking with Alex (Malcolm MacDowell) in the 'Ascot fantasy' sequence that closes ''A Clockwork Orange'' (1971).

Filmography

No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977)

Space: 1999 (TV series) (1977)

Rogue's Rock (TV series) (1976)

The Sweeney (TV series) (1976)

I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976)

Let's Sleep on It (short) (1976)

Got It Made (1974)

Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974)

Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)

No, Honestly (TV series) (1974)

Special Branch (TV series) (1974)

Play for Today (TV series) (1973)

Dead of Night (TV series) (1972)

Straight on Till Morning (1972)

Burke & Hare (1972; as Katya Wyath)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Goodies (TV series) (1971, 1970)

Hands of the Ripper (1971)

Twins of Evil (1971)

The Worker (TV series) (1969)

Monty Python's Flying Circus (TV series) (1969; as Kathja Wyeth)

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (TV series) (1969; as Kathja Wyeth)

Staircase (uncredited) (1969)

The Avengers (TV series) (1969; as Kathja Wyeth)

The World of Beachcomber (TV series) (1968; as Kathja Wyeth)

Inspector Clouseau (1968; as Kathja Wyeth)

External links

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:American film actors Category:American television actors