Wyeth's Transcendental Theory

Critics have agreed that Christina’s World(Fig.1) expresses Wyeth’s transcendental theory. I think not only his paintings expresses this theory, but also his thinking. Andrew Wyeth is a best known as a realistic artist of the middle twenteth century. His painting is primarily of the American regionalist style. Andrew Wyeth became a symbol of an era more than just a painter, which caught the true expression of that generation of Americans. He was so popular at that time, even becoming a sold-out exhibition artist because he expressed something that most Americans wanted to do. Very naturally, he became the part of transcendental group as a painter with the design of Louis Sullivan, the poetry of Walt Whitman and so on. In Christina’s World, …show more content…
First, Wyeth likes to use watercolor and egg tempera. The technique of using tempera allows him to focus on the object and thinking when he is drawing. At this time, merely describing the object itself cannot satisfy to him, so this is similar to Thoreau’s observations that more than something is represented. Second, Wyeth hopes that he can create without self-consciousness, and he feels he does not exist when stays in nature. He gets inspiration from this kind of self-development. So, the meaning of the object that he created is not just the object itself, but also contains deeper meanings. Furthermore, the process is of merging into the nature that oneness of human and nature, so Wyeth is the artist that describes the …show more content…
There are several analogous links between transcendentalism and Taoism. Taoism is the origin of the world that is the essential philosophy of ancient China. Tao is the essence of all existence and the original creativity in nature, which is an abstract concept. It creates everything. Transcendentalism believes that nature is the guarantee for objects and the sustenance of the spiritual, which is the essential of the human. It shows that spirits exit everywhere and create everything. And transcendentalism considers that humans and nature are closely connected to each other, even harmoniously unified. The parallel of Taoism believes the theory that man is an integral part of nature. Regarding the human and nature as the one means the purpose of human is not to dominate nature; instead, humans are a part of nature and need to live with it harmoniously. Both transcendentalism and Taoism are criticize the material culture and believe the importance of spirituality. And both of them think that nature and spirituality are the essential of universe and