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Andrew Wyeth artworks

Leland Little Auctions to sell Andrew Wyeth artworks Dec. 6

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Andrew Wyeth artworks
Andrew Wyeth (Pennsylvania, 1917-2009), ‘Breakup’ with bronze life casts of the artist’s hands, tempera on panel, signed at lower right, 1994, matted and presented under glass in a Lowy branded gold leaf frame. Leland Little Auctions image

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – On Friday, Dec. 6, Leland Little Auctions will auction 13 original works by acclaimed American artist Andrew Wyeth (Pennsylvania, 1917-2009), as part of the sale of a single-owner collection. All of the works will be offered without reserve, giving fine art collectors an unparalleled opportunity to own a piece of the American artistic canon. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.

Ten of the Wyeths to be auctioned are pencil studies and watercolors from the artist’s depictions of his model and muse Helga Testorf, who he painted in secret for 15 years before revealing the existence of the Helga series in 1985. These paintings were the subject of intense media attention and scrutiny, fueled in part by Wyeth’s secrecy. The Helga paintings are considered some of Wyeth’s most intimate and private works, and the preparatory pencil studies and watercolors provide a window into his artistic process.

The collection also includes the tempera painting Breakup, which will be sold with a bronze life cast of Wyeth’s hands. Breakup has been included in exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Delaware Art Museum, the Farnsworth Art Museum and the Greenville Museum of Art.

Andrew Wyeth artworks
Andrew Wyeth, ‘Cape Coat (Helga),’ drybrush, watercolor and pencil on paper, signed at lower right, 1982, presented under glass in a gold leaf frame. Leland Little Auctions image

Several others of the works to be sold have also been included in exhibitions: Cape Coat (Helga), a dry-brush and watercolor, was shown at the National Gallery of Art, and Study for Grape Wine, a pencil study, was shown at the Greenville Museum of Art. The tempera painting Grape Wine is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Andrew Wyeth artworks
Andrew Wyeth, study for ‘Grape Wine,’ pencil on paper,1966, matted and framed under glass in a gilt frame. Leland Little Auctions image

In advance of the auction, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m., at the Leland Little Auctions gallery in Hillsborough, N.C., Victoria Browning Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth’s only grandchild, will present a lecture on the artwork. Victoria Wyeth, who has been lecturing about her grandfather’s art since she was a teenager, will share her personal, firsthand knowledge of the pieces being sold and her grandfather’s artistic process.

For more information contact Leland Little Auctions at 919-644-1243.

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Andrew Wyeth artworks