Andrew Wise (American New Realist painter)

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Andrew Wise (July 12, 1917- January 16, 2009)
 
1、 Character Introduction
 
Andrew Wyeth (July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was an important contemporary neorealist painter in the United States. His works mainly focus on watercolor and egg color, and are known for their themes that are close to everyday life. His works have been highly valued and collected in many museums and art galleries, including the National Gallery in the United States.
 
Andrew Wise was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Golden Presidential Medal, and the Congressional Gold Medal by three US Presidents Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush, respectively.
 
On July 12, 1917, Andrew Wise was born into a family of painters in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, USA. He had a strong interest in watercolor painting at an early age. Wise did not study at a professional art school, but received systematic painting training from his father's studio since childhood.
 
In 1936, Wise held a solo exhibition in New York and rose to fame. He used exquisite and realistic techniques to depict the natural customs and characters of American countryside. With keen sensitivity and exquisite skills, he captured visual moments, while using rich memories and associations to turn details of life into touching images. Wise's art inspired the American "photo realism" painting that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, and he became one of the greatest painters of the 20th century in America.
 
On the early morning of January 17, 2009, Andrew Wise passed away while sleeping at his home in the suburbs of Philadelphia at the age of 91.
 
 
2、 Artistic style features
 
The perfect fusion of characters and backgrounds
 
Wise believed that humans not only exist in landscapes, but can also blend in with them. Wise relied on the abstraction of the general painting style of specific places and the purification of thoughts expressed in the posture and gaze of characters to achieve this fusion. Wise focuses on the refined composition with its rich brushstrokes on the main contour lines, purified texture, and expressive power. Not necessarily as accurate as taking photos. Wise pays attention to and emphasizes reality. The internal abstraction of a work can be said to be the discovery of a consciousness of beauty that transcends everyday observation. At the same time, the work also demonstrates the painter's concentration towards unique thinking. This fusion is a characteristic of the Wise style of painting. Because of this, it is difficult for us to define and categorize works such as "Christina" and "Helga" by Wise. It can be said that these suites are symphonies of ancient themes in American art, such as portrait painting, nude painting, landscape painting, and genre painting (Chang Hong and Pang Kaikai, 1990).
 
Wise's unique realism and the texture derived from the medium of expression can particularly touch our feelings. In order to achieve the integration and unity of characters and environment, he often uses similar strokes in form. Like grass in a picturesque wilderness. Animal fur and human muscles, hair, etc. In this regard, it can be seen that he leans towards the traces of the youth of Durler, while also unconsciously linking the vitality of human life with the essence of animals. In the "Helge" series of works, there are many works that emphasize nudity or wearing animal fur with drooping hair, and focus on depicting hair and animal fur.
 
Wise is skilled at skillfully combining characters and backgrounds. The background mentioned here includes both outdoor and indoor spaces. Wise uses different line and surface compositions to fully utilize outdoor and indoor related things. Wise's genre paintings are different from general genre paintings, with little consideration given to the specific plot to be explained. Not paying attention to incorporating stories, literature, and other content into the painting. So there are very few images that depict clear actions or certain activities of characters. What he depicts is a relatively broad portrayal of human nature and the image of people facing the fate of death. Wise consciously did not depict the studio, but instead placed characters in the interior or surrounding scenery of his home, blending them into it. He believes that what is more important than expressing what is seen is to express what is experienced, and to hone his skills through this way.
 
In 1946, Wise painted the egg colored painting "Winter". The year before painting, Andrew Wise's father was immersed in a profound philosophical contemplation of social reality, as well as a fleeting lament over the fragility of life. Even in praising the eternal vitality of nature, one can appreciate its tragic consciousness and melancholic colors.
 
In the work "Christina's World", which to some extent reflects the intangible pain in the depths of Wise's soul, we can understand Wise's creative mindset. The painting depicts Christina, a disabled girl suffering from polio, dressed in a pink dress in a desolate and desolate environment with no one around and overgrown weeds. Helpless and pale, she crawls on the grass, struggling and eager to climb towards the lonely and indifferent wooden house towering on the hillside and horizon. The girl lifted her sweaty head and looked sadly at her isolated home in the distance. On this desolate land, she supported her immobile body with her thin and fragile arms. The desolate land in the entire picture takes up 4/5 of the entire painting, and the distant wooden houses and the nearby wasteland are so clearly visible. The atmosphere of emptiness and loneliness squeezed against the girl, creating a desolate and melancholic atmosphere, causing her to die in a car accident across the street. That painting not only indicates that he inherited his father's painting style, but also his masterpiece in unifying characters and places. The image of the young man running down from the hill is the posture of Wise spinning. With his hand pointing towards the sky, his soul stumbled along like it was out of his body. The hill eventually became a portrait of Wise's father. He blended the vast background with nostalgia for his father, and the ethereal slope of the hill became the objective mirror for Andrew to express his profound sense of loneliness.
 
The clever use of symbolic and metaphorical techniques
 
Wise's works are serene, concise, and pure, which is easy to perceive because he often depicts lonely people in simple backgrounds. But through the surface tranquility, you can feel the hidden tension, threat, and unease from an imbalanced posture, a sudden expression, a frozen light, or through the cracks in the wall. All of this is caused by the painter's special attention to things, which turns personal memory, excitement, and privacy into an inexplicable and indescribable emotion, a metaphor and symbol, as if to seize the eternal thing in an instant, to study the mysterious and unpredictable nature of the world in ordinary objects.
 
Spiritual world
 
If objectively analyzed, we can confidently say that Wise's unique art style is almost always obsessed with the universe he knows himself, and what can be used around him is not a tangible material universe, but a world belonging to the soul. Therefore, although his paintings depict realistic scenery, they are full of metaphors. It is precisely this metaphor and symbol that injects vitality into the fantasies of our viewers and touches our hearts. We must perspective his art in order to see the profound symbolic meaning from surface phenomena, and to capture the peculiar traits and fundamental ideas presented in the picture.
 
Spiritual contradiction
 
Some of Wise's works have unique and unexpected compositions, and you often see inexplicable fear and sadness hidden in poetic, picturesque, and mythological scenes. His works are full of deep individual consciousness and surreal abstraction, presenting the spiritual characteristics of modern people, that is, when individuals are thrown into the world, they rely on themselves instead of relying on groups to face the spiritual contradictions of the world (Li Fangming, 2003). In Wise's paintings, the viewer's deep sympathy runs through throughout. Here, an interpretation of the ups and downs of life. A reality that resembles a dream but not a dream, clearly reflects the cruel reality and the psychological reality of the painter. Christina's World is a representative work of Wise, and it is also a symbol of Wise becoming a truly American style famous painter.
 
Work vitality
 
Wise has created a large number of works using models such as Anna Christina Olson, Hilly Ericsson, Carl Kana and his wife, and Helga Distov. There are noticeable changes in Christina's various portraits, some of which may not even resemble the same character. Behind it, there is always an incredible but completely natural relationship that we cannot experience, a silent but extremely beautiful exchange of hearts. The body cannot last forever against the times, but in this theme, Wise has discovered the source of eternal vitality. After Christina's death, the young Shirley hinted at a rebirth from death to something new, symbolizing resurrection. Helga also portrayed Karl Carner's return and continuation of human vitality after his death. Helge's muscular appearance, calm demeanor, and the temperament of her European descendants. Along with the dark brown tones of this land, the gentle and gentle terrain stretches slowly
 
By adding mostly soft light, green grasslands, and colorful flower wreaths, it showcases the vitality and regeneration nurtured in the earth and human body.
 
The style of homesick realism
 
Wise yearns for the reality of rural life in the United States. With infinite attachment to his hometown, he vividly depicts every inch of land in American countryside: simple houses, lonely beaches, fragrant soil, and soft flowers filled with deep affection and nostalgia for the countryside. Wise is also known as a master painter of NostaIgic realism (He Zhengguang, 1996), or translated as a "painter of NostaIgic realism" (Sun Jiangning, 2004).
 
Wise held his first solo art exhibition in New York at the age of 20, and his landscape watercolor paintings quickly sold out. However, he did not move to a big city like most artists, but lived in his hometown for the rest of his life and never traveled. His works are mostly based on the scenery and characters around him, which is in line with his desire to seek inspiration and awaken essence in the simplest, most ordinary, and most direct things. Some people mock him as a "modern primitive" and "localist". He replied, "My works are deeply intertwined with the soil of my life. However, I do not naturally depict these landscapes. Instead, I use them to express the memories and emotions deep within my soul." "I haven't even fully explored the treasures around me yet. Why shouldn't I stay in one place for a long time?"
 
Wise is best at observing the imprints around him. He sees the undulating wasteland through the mottled wooden windows, casting long shadows inside the ancient houses, wrinkles crawling over the old man's cheeks... These are all deeply imprinted in his heart. He uses delicate and extremely concise realistic techniques to depict every blade of grass and tree in the countryside, surrounding neighbors, friends, and family, and praising the integration of humans and nature. Each of his works prompts you to engage in dialogue with the scenery in the painting, allowing you to discover the metaphors and thoughts hidden deep within it.
 
Time passes by
 
Wise is often attracted by things that can express the passage of time. He likes to use broken walls, torn wallpaper, worn clothes, tilted buckets, baskets, and abandoned carts to suggest that light is fleeting. These still lives are not beautiful, but they are natural, real, friendly, and simple. They are surprising and thought-provoking in the ordinary. The scenery in Wise's works is also very ordinary, but it has a strong sense of life. He rarely draws spring and midsummer, but prefers the fallen leaves in winter and autumn. His scenery has an enchanting power, evoking people's nostalgia for their hometown and memories of the past. The old man, the solitary house, the village woman, the black beasts and plants, and the mysterious rays of the sunset seem to be telling ordinary stories in the universe and between heaven and earth. The frozen air, the silent sound of nature, and the faint sadness showcase to the world the masterpiece of the fusion of nature and artists.
 
Many people resonate with the most primitive instincts and awakenings that come from their experiences in front of Wise's paintings. This is because painters have used their hearts and wisdom to "cultivate their own universe" in this relatively small area. Many people admire Wise's high level of shaping ability, realistic writing skills, and strong American sentiment. However, Wise believes that there is another core in his paintings - an abstraction that can be called "extracted.".

3、 Representative works
 

Christina's World
 
Kristina's World is an egg colored painting created by American painter Andrew Wise in 1948 and is currently housed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
 
Christina's World depicts an open hillside covered in withered yellow grass, with undulating brown fields rising into a pale sky. On the horizon, in the setting sun, stands a weathered barn and a desolate house, with only a flock of gulls walking and a shirt swaying on a clothesline, making a lot of rustling sounds. [3] Christina, a young girl suffering from polio and dressed in a pink dress, lay with a delicate body in a desolate and desolate environment with no one left behind and overgrown weeds. Helpless and pale, she crawled on the grass, struggling and eager to climb towards the wooden house, towering on the hillside, lonely and indifferent.
 
Wise summarized the material and spiritual world of this unfortunate and disabled Christina through grasslands, farmhouses, and churches. However, the image language chosen by the painter was very simple, without any embellishment or artificiality, giving people a sense of reality.
 
 
4、 Diversification
social influence 
The diverse development of world art determines the diversity of material and spiritual products in human life. In the 21st century, with the diversified development of artistic products, Andrew Wise's unique realistic art style still demonstrates its strong vitality on the world art stage. Therefore, it is of great significance to revisit today the great painter who once influenced the development direction of world realism art in China in the 1970s and 1980s. Wise's influence on the world and the Chinese painting world is not only due to his cold and realistic style and painting techniques, but also his perseverance, not being moved by trends, and his perseverance in his creative style with a calm heart for sixty years. Shouldn't this provide inspiration for the developing Chinese realistic painters? In addition, the inheritance, innovation, and profound ideological connotations expressed by the Wise style of painting should also be borrowed by contemporary realistic painters. This is exactly the purpose of writing this article.
 
 

Andrew Wise's Works
 
This article intends to elaborate on three aspects. The first part is an interpretation of Wise's realistic style. Its art style is mainly characterized by inheritance and originality. Under the influence of traditional American realism and European Renaissance artists, Wise created a unique realistic painting style, which is mainly characterized by the perfect fusion of characters and backgrounds, the clever use of symbolic and metaphorical techniques, and the nostalgic realism style. The second part is the introduction and development of the "Wise style" in China. The third part is the inspiration of Wise's realistic painting style for the development of contemporary Chinese realistic art.
 
Inheriting Realism
Andrew Wise's paintings have deeply rooted themselves in the American art tradition. Wise's father, N.c. Wise is also a painter. He was inspired by his father's painting and combined genius with self cultivation as a painter. As a painter, my experiences are generally limited to the Brandyvanin Valley in Pennsylvania and the pastoral areas near the Kurz New Solid Coast in Maine. Although Wise lived in such a limited environment, through studying his extensive works and works, it can still be seen that he has an extremely rich knowledge of the works of European giants and American art predecessors that he is interested in.
 
different styles 
Wise is well aware of the stark differences between each painter's style and his own. In his view, colors and brushstrokes such as Renoir and Belasco are somewhat too European branded. Wise consciously learned the true essence and techniques of art from the giants of Italy and the early Renaissance period in northern Europe. What particularly touched the heartstrings of Wise was the sense of brightness, structure, texture, especially the lines. When discussing the contrast of composition and the reflection of light, Wise argues that he was particularly interested in the works of the Renaissance giant Biero della Francesca. He first saw that kind of replica in his youth. However, what inspired him even more were the fine and powerful lines seen in Albrecht Durer's dry watercolor and Sandro Botticelli's works. N. C. Wise once gave his son a replica of a Dulle copperplate print. Young Andrew Wise was deeply moved by his theme and techniques. It can be said that this German painter was his initial teacher and the painter who provided him with demonstration materials for dry strokes. In Wise's consciousness, there are particularly strong remnants of the famous sketches "The Little Rabbit" and "The Sesame Grass" (collected by the Abertina Art Museum in Vienna) by Doule. Regarding the latter, Wise considers it "his highest masterpiece". The inspiration for Wise's dry stroke "Grass" (1942) was also derived from it. Wise greatly appreciated Douler's depiction of small objects and textures, both in terms of sensation and the meaning conveyed by the text, which carried a sense of simplicity and politeness. The "Helge" series of works created by Wise based on this observation method clearly reflects this point.
 


Andrew Wise's Works
 
watercolor painting
Among the many works created by Wise, the outstanding one is dry brush watercolor painting. Unlike traditional improvised watercolor painting, dry brush watercolor painting involves wringing the water in the brush to create a sense of richness in specific details. Using a dry pen to overlap and apply various pigments, the process resembles a fabric. As the thickness of the watercolor increases, the interior presents a dry brush like layer. The metaphor of this fabric is similar to the animal hair of the painter's brush, the fibers of grass, and the woven hair. So, there are many works that focus on depicting the hair of characters, such as "The Shawl Coat," "Kneeling," "The Waiter," "The Corolla," "The Baltian," and so on. Wise noticed that in the painting "The Little Rabbit", Durler focused his energy on the head of the small animal and meticulously carved it, and we can easily see where Wise's energy lies. From these works by Wise, we can see that the natural and steady sense similar to "The Little Rabbit" is vividly portrayed.
 
Influential figures
Another painter who had a significant influence on Wise was Botticelli. This master gave Wise inspiration for painting themes and techniques. Among modern painters, the use of egg color has not yet surpassed that of Wes, so it is natural for Wes to focus on Renaissance painting when using this ancient technique. Therefore, Botticelli's technique caught his attention. Wise said, "Looking at past paintings, I understand that Elephant Botticelli's" The Birth of Venus ", although using canvas, was done very well. I have also tried to draw egg colored paintings on canvas, but it was not satisfactory. The elasticity of canvas is annoying and annoying. Wise pursues the durability of the picture by relying on the purification of composition and the hardness of the image carrier material.". The egg color painting made with distilled water and egg yolk combined with a dry paintbrush solidifies quickly. If this is applied to the wooden board, both in terms of sensation and form, it conforms to Wise's intention of pursuing image sturdiness.
 
The influence of early Renaissance paintings and Botticelli's works on young Wise was not only in terms of artistic style, but also in the sublimated attributes and significance of character images. It is natural to immediately associate "The Birth of Venus" and "Spring" with the eloquence and dignity of "The Corolla". It's not that Wise consciously imitated the mythological and philosophical significance that Botticelli gave his nude paintings. In the "Helge" series of works, even though she is not a goddess, she does have some kind of natural personification implication. There is a fable like power here, which is the portrayal of Wise turning ordinary things into great things.

 

Andrew Wise's Works
 

American painter
Wise, with a strong sense of European tradition, also considers himself a modern American painter. In the tradition of the United States, Wise accepted realism as a form and landscape themes as the mainstream of 20th century American art. In Wise's works, it can be seen that his eyes feel a sense of unease, introspection, and loneliness towards reality. Indeed, while considering his strong pursuit of independence and genius, Wise returned to his hometown and lived there for a long time.
 
Sketching watercolor
Wise's works are easily captured in the broad perspective of American landscape and genre painting. His perspective, background terrain, and selection of presentation materials inherit the styles of two outstanding predecessors in the American art world, Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. In terms of location, Homer resides in Maine. Eakins resides in Pennsylvania, which is basically the same as Wise. Moreover, Homer and Eakins, like Wise, are also skilled in sketching and watercolor.
 
Wise likes Homer's works, especially his watercolor paintings. Watercolor painting not only has rich expressive power, but also its sense of familiarity and straightforwardness. It can generate unexpected intensity and emotions. However, Wise not only understands Homer's true value from the perspective of significant achievements and creative methods. Comparing the themes of the two works reveals that they have many similarities. Especially around 1870, Homer created several works about people sitting on grass, people crossing pastures, people staring at the horizon, and people focused on trivial matters around them. These paintings depict the fantasies of young people or the overly thoughtful demeanor of those who have just experienced the hardships of life. Homer painted well-known masterpieces such as "Noon" and "The People of the Ranch" around the age of 35. At the age of 35, Wise recreated these situations in Farewell. Afterwards, the correspondence between the simplified landscape paintings of Homer's "Northeastern Wind" and Wise's "Snow and Wind" can also be seen. Finally, in the composition of close-up and distant shots, the similarities between the two can be seen in the faint appearance of the full moon in Homer's "The Kiss of the Moon" and Wyeth's "The Madness of the Moon". Both created bold compositions through the artist's skillful imagination.

 

Works of Andrew Wise
 
 
If the dressed Helga can find a connection in Homer's series of works depicting young women both indoors and outdoors created after 1870 (such as "Blackboard" in 1870, "Fatigue" in 1878, etc.), then the naked Helga, who is completely undressed, without any concealment, can find a corresponding figure in Edkins' works. Unlike Homer and Wise, Eakins was a painter who received traditional art education in his youth. I initially studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art in Vladimir, and then in the late 1860s, I studied under Jerome and others in Paris. During this period, Eakins relied on the models in the studio to create sketches of various postures. Models are not specific characters, and Eggins' creations are undisguised and straightforward, with almost no intention of artificiality, idealization, or beautification. He is only concerned about the expression of texture, quantity, form, bones, and muscles. This honest observation and depiction became a consistent element followed by Wise and subsequent realist painters. However, unlike Atkins, Wise does not directly depict his physical image in the painting. The intangible bond between the painter and the object is expressed through the condensed artwork. What Wise learned from Edkins was to express life straightforwardly without the sadness of being a characteristic of sexuality, with a focus on embodying this point as a larger reality for the individual (Chang Hong and Pang Kaikai, 1990, p14).