It’s my friend Jimmy Lynch. But there’s much more to this painting than Jimmy. When I was young, I used to ride horses and motorcycles at night along with the local farm boys — in the middle of the summer, in the middle of the night, all of us naked. I was intrigued by the bodies of those farm kids — their faces so tanned, their bodies, covered with their work clothes, looking like they were covered with wax. Nude bodies streaking around at night always impressed me. When I was doing this painting, I’d take off my clothes and, together, Jimmy and I would drive around — at two in the morning on his big Harley-Davidson. It wasn’t cold, for it was late August. The mist at night was fascinating. It combines the mystery of my youth with the shock of today. I have to laugh, for this one turns most people off....
He was a marvelous natural person – a piece of the earth. Hunted all over the place. Loved the land. He was an appealing vagabond. I was taken by his posture, the way he walked — so loose and casual, very American.
— Description of “Man and the Moon” by the artist, Andrew Wyeth, in Andrew Wyeth Autobiography, 1995, Little Brown & Company
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This is Siri. Just before going to Maine I had completed a picture of Helga, “Black Velvet,” and I wanted to find out if I could do Siri in the same way on a sand spit. It’s a composite in a way, in which all the elements overlap, are woven together — both Chadds Ford and Maine brought together into one painting.
— Description of “Black Water” by the artist, Andrew Wyeth, in Andrew Wyeth Autobiography, 1995, Little Brown & Company
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I finally had a hip operation and went up to Maine. I knew this handsome boy, Eric, an extraordinary specimen. There I was, hanging around with a crippled leg, and here was this perfect thing. The thought got me going — really to do him, totally nude. I was fascinated with that blond hair coming down from his chest all the way to his pubic hair. The painting became more than a body; it was like finding a wonderful deer in the woods. It’s sexually powerful — everything open, not sordid, just remarkable.… This is utter reality. The point-counterpoint of him and myself — him so perfect and me with this crippled leg.
— Description of “The Clearing” by the artist, Andrew Wyeth, in Andrew Wyeth Autobiography, 1995, Little Brown & Company
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