E5712

Paintings by Andrew Wyeth

 Alvaro & Christina, 1968

Cover Announcement 

Take a close look at the illustations. It is hard to fathom that each and every cachet in this new Collins set is individually hand painted. In fact, these illustrations show why my water-colored cachets have earned their enduring reputation for quality and beauty.

The first one I will be sending is "Soaring" which shows a majestic bald eagle flying above the farmland of rural America. This single cachet is a prime example of what I've tried to achieve since I started - first day covers that will never lose their appeal to the collector's eye and in this case, heart.

Andrew Wyeth's favorite subjects were the people, land, and sea around him. He maintained homes in the picturesque countyside of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, near Brandywine Creek and in Maine close to his beloved sea. He was a "realist" painter and one of America's best known and most popular artists of the mid-20th Century. For his "Wind from the Sea," I show a lighthouse along a rocky coast. "Young Bull", depicts the newborn in a pasture with his mother. 'Frostbitten" - an apple-laden branch with remnants of an early snow. "Big Room" has an inviting log fire as a resting dog dozes in contentnent. "Sailor's Valentine" evokes an image of the early whaling days so important to the Maine and New England coastal communities.

In 1937 at age 20, Wyeth had his first one-man exhibition at a New York City gallery. Incredibly his entire inventory sold out at that event, and young Andrew was on his way to fame and fortune. His entire career was devoted to landscapes, identifiable subjects, and real people. His favorite subjects were the land and people around him, and he often noted, "I paint my life."

In 2007, Andrew Wyeth was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush. He had already been bestowed the Congressional Gold Medal. He was the first living American artist to be elected to Britain's Royal Aqademy. He received a gold medal for painting from the United States National Institute of Arts and Letters and in 1963, Andrew was the very first painter to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom!

Not only did this acclaimed artist receive recognition with the above awards, but he was embraced by the common American culture. Wyeth was referred to often in the "Peanuts" comic strip. Mister Rogers had a copy of one of his paintings in his PBS studio "home." And in Columbia, Maryland, there is a community where the street names are derived from his paintings.

It is an honor to announce this set of Collins covers which pay tribute to the great and popular Andrew Wyeth. Fittingly, he was born July 12, 1917 on Henry David Thoreau's 100e Birthday, and Aridrew went on to study and be influenced by Thoreau's writings about nature. Wyeth loved the people. The sea. The land. The American bald eagle as it soars on high is now ready to be sent.