Betsy Wyeth passes away at 98.

We are saddened to announce the passing of Betsy Wyeth, who died Tuesday, April 20.

Betsy Wyeth was born on September 26, 1921 and was raised in East Aurora, New York. The daughter of Merle and Elizabeth (Bess) James, she grew up in an art-friendly environment, with her mother interested in the performing arts and her father the rotogravure editor for the Buffalo Courier-Express. It was in July of 1939 that she met the painter Andrew Wyeth and accompanied him to a dance in Rockland, Maine, a few days later, where he asked her to marry him. Though they had known each other for one week, she accepted.

From their very first day together, when Betsy took Andrew to the Olson House to meet Christina and Alvaro Olson, Betsy played an essential role in Andrew’s career. She was a major source of strength for the artist at the very outset of their relationship when Andrew could easily have settled for the comfort of his early successful work. She provided the support that allowed him to follow his artistic vision while dealing with pressure from dealers, patrons, critics, and his father, N.C. Through their years together, she served as Andy’s model, inspiration, advisor, curator, editor, and business manager.

Her generosity and vision have also had a lasting impact on Maine’s midcoast, and beyond. She served an inspirational and in fact pivotal role in the founding of the Island Institute, dedicated to sustaining and preserving Maine’s island and remote coastal communities. Her creation of Up East Foundation led to the preservation of a seventeen-acre property that was once part of the Olsons’ saltwater farm, the place that inspired some 300 of Andrew Wyeth’s works, including his iconic 1948 painting, “Christina’s World.”