WYETH’S WORTH

William Wilson has sorely missed the point of Andrew Wyeth and his work (“Is Wyeth Worth It?” Aug. 31). Wilson says Wyeth symbolized the “right wing of American art.” He “flails about with tired formulas. The result is a spurious sense of poetry and drama.”

There are mainly two types of artists: the one who is constantly working with (or against) the current trends, and the artist who is expressing his inner voice.

Wyeth loves his subjects and spends months bringing them to life. The style suits the motive. Here is what he said about his work:

“I was interested in Christina, I was interested in that house. I wasn’t at either place to paint a nice group of pictures or bucolic memories or Maine images. I was emotionally involved in the thing and I just had to get it out of my system.”

The key to Wyeth’s popularity is the sincerity of his work. It’s not that it’s “realistic” or “traditional.” It’s that it’s honest and expressive of a great deal of feeling for his subjects. The art is not separate from the man.

Not everyone is stimulated by art that requires a guidebook or an art critic to appreciate. But Wilson wants to dump Wyeth in the kindling box with Norman Rockwell.

PETER VAN BORST

Rancho Santa Fe