Wyeth was doing excellent watercolor paintings by the age of twelve. His mother encouraged his early inclination toward art. His varied youthful activities and his naturally astute sense of observation later aided the authenticity of his illustrations and obviated the need for models: "When I paint a figure on horseback, a man plowing, or a woman buffeted by the wind, I have an acute sense of the muscle strain." He was the oldest of four brothers who spent much time hunting, fishing, and enjoying other outdoor pursuits, and doing chores on their farm. His literary appreciation and artistic talents appear to have come from her. His maternal ancestors came from Switzerland, and during his childhood, his mother was acquainted with literary giants Henry David Thoreau and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Later ancestors were prominent participants in the French and Indian Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the American Civil War, passing down rich oral histories and tradition to Wyeth and his family and providing subject matter for his art, which was deeply felt. An ancestor, Nicholas Wyeth, a stonemason, came to Massachusetts from England in 1645. Wyeth was born in Needham, Massachusetts. He is notably the father of Andrew Wyeth and the grandfather of Jamie Wyeth, both celebrated American painters. Wyeth, who was both a painter and an illustrator, understood the difference, and said in 1908, "Painting and illustration cannot be mixed-one cannot merge from one into the other." Sometimes seen as melodramatic, his illustrations were designed to be understood quickly. Wyeth was a realist painter just as the camera and photography began to compete with his craft. The first of these, Treasure Island, was one of his masterpieces and the proceeds paid for his studio. During his lifetime, Wyeth created over 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books, 25 of them for Scribner's, the Scribner Classics, which is the work for which he is best known. He was the pupil of artist Howard Pyle and became one of America's greatest illustrators. Wyeth, was an American artist and illustrator. Newell Convers Wyeth (Octo– October 19, 1945), known as N.
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