--- title: Andrew Wyeth at 100: Pictures From American Painter's Career description: At first he believed that Christina's World, which would become his most famous painting, would be as successful as "a flat tire." canonical: https://time.com/4840031/andrew-wyeth-at-100-and-the-story-behind-his-most-famous-painting/ author: Liz Ronk article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-12T13:00:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:42.830Z article:section: History og:title: Andrew Wyeth at 100: Pictures From American Painter's Career og:description: At first, he believed his most famous painting would be as successful as "a flat tire" og:url: https://time.com/4840031/andrew-wyeth-at-100-and-the-story-behind-his-most-famous-painting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa84a524d6b9972/6988d400fb4eac3157892b71/andrew-wyeth-alvaro-and-christina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Alvaro and Christina by Andrew Wyeth og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Andrew Wyeth at 100: Pictures From American Painter's Career twitter:description: At first, he believed his most famous painting would be as successful as "a flat tire" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa84a524d6b9972/6988d400fb4eac3157892b71/andrew-wyeth-alvaro-and-christina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Andrew Wyeth at 100 and the Story Behind His Most Famous Painting > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Jul 12, 2017 1:00 PM UTC  Alvaro and Christina, 1968 watercolor on paper from the Farnsworth Art Museum. Alvaro and Christina, 1968 watercolor on paper from the Farnsworth Art Museum. Andrew Wyeth/Artist Rights Society (ARS) by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Jul 12, 2017 1:00 PM UTC _“If there is such a thing as a purely American tradition in Art, it is represented at its best in the straightforward canvases of Andrew Wyeth.”_ _— LIFE magazine,_ [_May 17, 1948_](https://books.google.com/books?id=HkYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA102#v=twopage&q&f=false) By the time he turned 30, Andrew Wyeth had already cemented himself as one of the most important and quintessential American artists of his time. Born a full century ago in Chadds Ford, Penn., on July 12, 1917, Wyeth’s only formal education in art came from his father, Newell Convers “N.C.” Wyeth, who was an accomplished illustrator in his own right. When LIFE profiled the younger Wyeth in 1948, he was well along in his career, having sold out his first solo exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery in New York City a decade prior. His most famous painting, _Christina’s World_, was painted the same year the 1948 article appeared in LIFE, but is not mentioned.  Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth featured in the May 14, 1965 issue of LIFE magazine. LIFE Magazine LIFE would feature Wyeth, who died in 2009, and his paintings many times over the years, including extensive articles in [1953](https://books.google.com/books?id=YEIEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA80#v=twopage&q&f=false) and a [1965](https://books.google.com/books?id=QFMEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA5&pg=PA92#v=twopage&q&f=false) profile that featured 22 pages of his favorite paintings and a first-person interview by Richard Meryman, who became a good friend of Wyeth’s and went on to write a [biography](http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/17/books/an-imperfect-american-idol-and-his-self-enclosed-art.html) of the painter. Of his most famous painting, which now hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Wyeth said, “When I first painted it in 1948, _Christina’s World_ hung all summer in my house in Maine and nobody particularly reacted to it. I thought, ‘Boy, is this one ever a flat tire.'” TIME Magazine, however, had a different take on the painting in[ a cover story ](http://time.com/vault/issue/1963-12-27/page/44/)on Wyeth in 1963, calling the work, “One of the most durable and disquieting images of 20th century America,” and explaining the story behind the picture: --- > “” ---  Dec. 27, 1963 TIME magazine cover with painting of artist Andrew Wyeth by his sister Henriette Hurd. TIME Magazine When it came to a portrait of Wyeth himself, however, TIME turned for its cover image to a different artist: his sister, Henriette Wyeth Hurd. The magazine also noted that _Her Room_ (seen in the fourth slide in this gallery) had fetched the highest price paid by any museum for a work by a living artist at the time. The painting sold for $65,000. In Celebration of Wyeth’s centennial, [The Farnsworth Museum](http://www.farnsworthmuseum.org/exhibition/andrew-wyeth-maine-watercolors-1938-to-2008/) in Rockland, Maine — which purchased Wyeth works from that 1944 Macbeth gallery show four years before the museum even opened to the public — is hosting a series of five exhibitions including a major watercolor show, _Andrew Wyeth at 100,_ which runs through this year. Seen above is a small sampling of this comprehensive look at Wyeth’s work spanning his entire career from 1938 through 2008.  Artist Sketching, 1939 watercolor on paper from The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection. Andrew Wyeth/Artist Rights Society (ARS)  Alvaro on Front Doorstep, 1942 watercolor on paper from Marunma Art Park. Andrew Wyeth/Artist Rights Society (ARS)  The Bed, Study for Chambered Nautilus, 1956 pencil on paper from The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection. Andrew Wyeth/Artist Rights Society (ARS)  Her Room, 1963 tempera on panel from The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection. Andrew Wyeth/Artist Rights Society (ARS)  Far From Needham Study, 1966 pencil on paper from The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection. Andrew Wyeth/Artist Rights Society (ARS)  Alvaro and Christina, 1968 watercolor on paper from the Farnsworth Art Museum. Andrew Wyeth/Artist Rights Society (ARS)  Dr. Syn, 1981 tempera on panel from The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection. Andrew Wyeth/Artist Rights Society (ARS)  Airborne Study, 1996 watercolor on paper from The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection. 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