A Sad day for Art

OBITUARY

Andrew Wyeth, famed and infamous artist, dies at 91

By Michael Kimmelman

Published: January 16, 2009

Andrew Wyeth, one of the most popular and also most lambasted artists in the history of American art, a reclusive linchpin in a colorful family dynasty of artists from tiny Chadds Ford, Penn., whose precise realist views of hardscrabble rural life became icons of national culture and sparked endless debates about the nature of modern art, has died at his home in suburban Philadelphia, The Associated Press reported.

He was 91.

Wyeth gave America a prim and flinty view of Puritan rectitude, starchily sentimental, through parched gray and brown pictures of spooky frame houses, desiccated fields, deserted beaches, circling buzzards and craggy-faced New Englanders. A virtual Rorschach test for American culture during the better part of the last century, Wyeth split public opinion as vigorously as, and probably even more so than, any other American painter including the other modern Andy, Warhol, whose milieu was as urban as Wyeth's was rural.

Because of his popularity, a bad sign to many art world insiders, Wyeth came to represent middle-class values and ideals that modernism claimed to reject, so that arguments about his work extended beyond painting to societal splits along class, geographical and educational lines. One art historian, in response to a 1977 survey in Art News magazine about the most underrated and overrated artists of the century, nominated Wyeth for both categories.

Art critics mostly heaped abuse on his work, saying he gave realism a bad name. Supporters said he spoke to the silent majority who jammed his exhibitions. "In today's scrambled-egg school of art, Wyeth stands out as a wild-eyed radical," one journalist wrote in 1963, speaking for the masses. "For the people he paints wear their noses in the usual place, and the weathered barns and bare-limbed trees in his starkly simple landscapes are more real than reality."

Floyds Diary 16th Jan 09

16thJan Fri
I was due to meet up with Jamie at 7.00 – 7.30 but looking out into the blackness at 7.00 am showed it to be raining quite heavily. Jamie had text me shortly after saying that he would not be coming as he had a lecture at 9.00 and it would be cutting it too fine. I chose to work for a while in the studio and see if the rain would clear away around nine. Sure enough it did so at 9.00 am I was on the road out to Aveton , I had decided to do the yabbacombe Side of the farm. On the two stubble turnip fields and hedgerow strip. As I pulled up in the field, Woodies spilled from the trees and headed out into the neighbours stubble field. I went ro the back of the truck and got Floyd ready with transmitters etc. I stepped him up and walked out into the stubble turnips accompanied by the bland staring of a group of sheep bleating monotonously at me thinking I was going to give them extra food. Wilf the farmer had moved them there a few days ago to start grazing the turnips, keeping them fenced to small sections of the field as they work their way through it like woolly locusts. The Woodies were still in the stubble field and I was uneasy about their proximity to where I’d be slipping Floyd. I twirled the lure as I walked towards them to force them to take off some singles dropped out from the conifers too and left much to my relief. I walked on and stuck the braces on Floyd’s hood and un hooded him. He looked about him and I gave him a little longer than I usually give him before casting him off into the wind. He took off low across the field heading for the top of the wood. As he flew out over the top my insecurities about him surfaced and I gave him a short shout to remind him of his role. He nonchalantly looked over his back as if to say yeah alright, alright stop worrying. Just over the top of the wood as I expected a Woodie to commit suicide coming out underneath him he turned back down wind towards and high over me. Then he powered out into wind over the valley, climbing not with his usual clippy wing beat but with a powerful driving rowing action. As I walked on I thought I will give him more time today. I won’t run at any point or get animated in any way and see what happens to his attentiveness. Dave told me that he seems to need this animation going on underneath him but the more I fly him on my own the more I’m not sure of this. He is very quick to anticipate any behaviour that signals an imminent flush so I need to mix up my approaches with him to keep him guessing. As I got to the end of the first field I looked up, he was 400ft+ and making into the wind, out to my right. I moved to my right, getting below him and then started up through the cover strip from the bottom running next to the hedge dividing the two fields as I passed the first feeder a hen pheasant broke cover from the other side of the hedge. It flew out and then curled round, racing up the hedge on the other side towards the green lane. Floyd came streaking past above to my right following the path that the pheasant took. I didn’t see the impact but I heard it and saw his throw up about sixty yards further on from the other side. He winged over and was down in a flash. As I ran through the gap in the hedge three more hens and a cockbird flushed. I found him on his hen at the bottom of the hedge. Well Pheasant for the pot Yumm.

Floyd Diary entry 14thJan 09

Wed 14th Jan Temp 2 oC

Weighed him in the field, He was 1lb 11 3/8 oz a little heavier than i would have wanted but I was keen to get him back on the wing. I decided to fly him on the Valley set at Aveton, I drove down the road from the top barns where I weighed him and passed the other north side of the farm . Seeing the frost covered strip running down the the middle of the open wheat field on my right I wondered whether to switch but decided to stick to my plan. 2minuets later I was stepping out of the Landrover looking across the open stubble field into the sun and crisp morningchill. I opened the back and stepped floyd up onto my fist , Attached his transmitter and walked out , wondering all the time whether he would take to the morning flying that we will be doing till the season burns out at the end of this glorious of months. Floyd fidgeted on the glove, anticipating the game ahead . I looked across the valley to the Conifer trees at the valley's head . There were a few Woodies in there but time was pushing on and i needed him to be in the air. I removed the fastening clip and struck the braces of his hood , He leaned forward tiptoeing on the glove i left the hood in place,one last look around then tipped it from his face. The gold from the horizon glinted in his eyes as he took in the scene. I cast him off only for him to land in the stubble . i walked forward and he left the floor heading for the wood and the Pigeons just stirring from cold. As they spilled from the tree's he quickened his wing beat flying in amongst them as a
puppy would chase butterflies from a meadow. He pressed one hard making it bail into the trees. He continued on into the wind above the conifers and now high above the valley he turned and climbing came back towards me. I felt my body relax so much so that I hadn't realized how tense I must have been watching him have his play with the pigeons. Floyd was now high above in the crisp air and i was approaching the top of the strip. He now turned behind me at an impressive pitch keeping tight circles as I moved down the strip. About twenty feet in a Cock Pheasant broke from behind me and headed for the top hedge not far away. Floyd began his stoop but pulled out knowing it would make cover. Damn I should move that feeder I thought to myself, If only he had been another 30 ft down the strip Floyd would have had a good crack at him. Floyd immediately started to mount again above me I wasn't sure where the partridge would be in here today and I crouched to not alarm them further. Floyd read the signal and remounted to
a higher pitch than before and when ready came over signaling his his readiness.Not wanting to encourage this form of him training me, I stayed put ! He then powered off over the other side of the valley climbing as if his life depended on it . As he got out over the other fields I started to walk , Mistakenly I should have let him further latitude as he immediately broke off climbing across towards me but not as high as I wanted or knew he could have got out there.No matter he was on his way back now . I walked on thrashing cover and generally disturbing the peace. Eight Partridge flushed from about five meters in front of me and raced hell for leather down the field. Floyd rolled into a stoop but I watched the Partridge he Honed in on one at the bottom of the stoop , hitting it with a glancing blow which forced it to turn down the valley. Floyd threw up an turned on it too tail chasing it towards the valley bottom and cover. He connected just before cover and came to rest with his prize.

Diary entry from early on In the Floyd Experience

Well today , with a bit of wind and fairly clear conditions I was hopefully that Floyd would show me a little more. I've been slowly loosening the reigns in hope that I can trust him and the last two flights have been OK and relatively tight in their style. He has had a little bad luck regarding his closing the deal on flights but I still think he maybe taking a bit to get his eye or should I say footing in. Jamie joined me again today and we headed for Aveton one of the three spots that I fly game on. Its fairly typical of the countryside round here but has got some decent sized fields
that, with cover strips put in by the land owner and allows for some good gamehawking setups.
We flew on the Northwest side of the farm to make the most of the prevailing wind today. I sent Jamie to the top of the strip as I walked out on the windward slope to cast Floyd off . I'd already glassed the strip to see if there were partridge in there and saw at least four by the edge of it picking around. With Floyd now I just cast him off quickly to minimise his horizon chasing !!! With him on the wing I start walking immediately and try and keep him fairly centered. He did mount well and as I reached the lower fence line about to cross into the wheat field he was at about 300 + and still climbing. I quickly glanced to my right to see Jamie coming down the strip now only 20 yrds to the marked partridge . At about 10 yrds out the partridge broke and headed into wind across the open plough as I'd wanted them to go. Its about 250-300 yrds to cover that way. Floyd must have come thumping down as he gave one of the departing partridge a hell of a whack and it bounced of the plough he did a wing over but I was still to low to see over the ridge. the partridge gathered itself and took off hell for leather non the worst for its basket ball impression.It shot passed me heading for a bramble patch on the edge of the wood and fence line with Floyd hot on its heals. Both slammed into the hedge and I ran down to see if he had
snagged it in the cover. Unfortunately It made its escape and I was disappointed for Floyd he flew well and for some reason his feet aren't connecting in the right way at the mo. I'm sure it will come right for him . Jamie had my camera with him and took some shots of today's outing. One of the shots my face says it all . I'm getting more relaxed with Floyd now and slowly I think I will start pushing his mounting further.

Straying in to the Dark side.

Well with no Falcon to fly and allot of game to fly at I was in a real quandry as to whatto fly . I asked around to see if anyone had a Peregrine to fly but no cigar . I'm a bit of a purist at heart and love the peregrine pure and simple. Allot of my mates all fly Hybrids down here and some exceptional ones too but I've never been comfortable with them.They are stunning to look at and years ago I thought they were the bee's knee's but after flying a Peregrine tiercel a few years back i have never looked at hybrids in the sameway since.Now enter Floyd, Floyd is a gyr x peregrine tiercel that was originally flown by my late friend and hawking bud Bruce Huxham. Bruce passed away two years ago after a very short but bitter battle with cancer and has been greatly missed by us all down here. Floyd bruces tiercel was taken on and flown by Dave Scott and he has become a lovely little game hawk. His only real vice is his tendency sometimes to just do one! and you have to get in front of him via the telemetry experience to stop him flying clear to Ireland !!! so here I am with the chance to fly my late friends Gyr x Peregrine and I've accepted the challenge. Well its only till the end of the season and its a chance to have a bit of fun and to give Bruce who is looking down on me a real laugh at his purist mate finally dipping a toe into the Dark side!!! Watch this space

More pictures of Megan in training

Mending Megan

For the last seven months or so I have been training and flying a female Peregrine. Her background is that she came in to my hands via my friend and fellow artist Dave Scott. Dave called me knowing that I was not flying a falcon at that time and told me he had been handed the bird, but with his own falcons to fly he could not put the time into her that was needed. She had come from a well known and carefully watched sight in the area and had got caught up in anti Pigeon netting on a building near the site. She was found by one of the volunteers hanging and obviously quite distressed entangled in the netting . A quick phone call to one of the registered ringers and she was rescued forth with. She was taken to a local vet who then evaluated her condition as unreleasable because of feather damage. She then found herself being cared for over night and put through the chain of registered and listed rehab individuals one of which is Dave. I had also had the experience of flying a previous male peregrine which I'd released back into the wild. At this point I was, to be honest a little reluctant to take on such a bird knowing that the vast majority of birds that come into captivity have little chance of making it back out especially a very young falcon and the the work involved . However i agreed to look at her and then make a decision. As I pulled up outside Dave's place I had already started to think how i was going to manage such a bird. Dave took me into his studio where the falcon was being kept in the dark in a box. We very carefully opened the top and there staring at me was a beautiful dark eyass Peregrine (meaning from the nest) .Her cheeks flared in threat posture and puffing herself up like harassed cobra about to strike she hissed at us . At that moment something switched in me and I instantly knew that I should take her on and help her no matter what it took in time and energy. Some things happen for a reason and I'm a great believer in fate . Its kind of weird that I should get this opportunity to help an injured falcon after loosing Missy my last Peregrine to a fence line in 2006 . We took her out of the box and put a hood on her to calm her then set about checking her over to asses the damage to her feathering and body. She had numerous creases and breaks along the primaries (the long finger like feathers on the ends of the wings) on both wings and although not snapped of completely they had been severely compromised in strength and lifespan. It was clear that she would need some extensive Imping ( replacement feathers grafted into the old quills still in the bird) . She also showed a quite obviously dropped left wing with a cut on the leading edge where the netting had cut into her. We carefully attached anklets and jesses and I took her home. I slowly went about the process of taming her down and getting her used to the sights and sounds of human life. the Kids took their job of exposing her to the garden comings and goings very seriously. Children very quickly get a Falcon absolutely bomb proof tame. If a bird can put up with kids tearing past and shouting , bouncing on trampolines etc they can put up with anything! within a week I had a visit from one her majesties inspectors to ring Megan as she had now been christened by Maisie my daughter. Soon she was flying loose and it was'nt long before we needed to get the feathers imped as she would not progress beyond coming a 100 yrds . I took her to a friend in Cambridge who had imped birds before successfully and she soon had a new set of wings to play with. We used the traditional method of imping using bamboo as the splint that slots inside the replacement feather then is glued and slid into the remaining quill coming out of the bird. This is a painless operation as the quills have no nerves and are like our fingernails . The difficulty is holding the bird down steady (casting) and keeping the stress levels down as we had to do each wing and the tail separately. I could now really start to push Megan's training on. I decided as I had done with my last Falcon to Kite train her. This involves sending the falcon up to the kite to get a lure hanging from the line off the kite in no time the bird is going up to about one thousand feet and is a very effective way of getting a falcon supremely fit. It also has the benefit of giving you the chance of teaching a falcon the very important lesson of the advantage of height . Megan took to the kite with no problems at all and was soon doing 800 ft climbs to the lure. I recently changed my set up from running the kite line down to using a parachute method where the falcon gabs the lure which is attached to a parachute that releases from the line and drifts down with the falcon. Unfortunately the rapid progress that I had enjoyed with Megan was relitively short lived and soon she started to loose the imped feathers put in to her wings . I tried to replace them as they came out but seemed to be fighting a loosing battle. Megan loves a bath and as such I feel it unfair to deny her that pleasure so every day without fail she is offered one . This unfortunately was the undoing of the bamboo imps put in because of water ingress into the glued shafts the bamboo swelled and split the quills both sides then as it dried ,shrank , then they became loose and Megan in the course of preening removed the feathers completely. I have since found a more efficient way of imping but the damage had been already done so unless I wanted to continue stressing her by repeated casting to refit new imps I had to call it a day on this season and be content with having given Megan some really good conditioning Physically and remind her that she is a Killer of birds.
As far as her cut in the wing this healed but there is still a drop to that wing after a work out.
I have also noticed that she is showing some slight signs of imprinting on People. She talks to me when she is picked up and is a little possessive of her food. These are not real bad problems at
the moment but will have to be watched . I feel really good about her progress in general especially the physical development that is so crucial for a first year bird. We will have to see what happens next year . For now she is going to be left to moult into a new set of feathers and then we can pick up where we left off.