Andrew Wyeth portrait nets $2.4M for Maine museum

[December 08, 2010]  ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) -- A Jamie Wyeth portrait of his late father has sold for $2.4 million at an auction to benefit the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine.

The 1969 oil painting, "Portrait of Andrew Wyeth," was among 12 artworks that sold Nov. 29 at a New York City gallery for the museum's endowment campaign to sustain the artistic legacy of Andrew Wyeth. It was a record amount for a Jamie Wyeth painting.

The auction raised about $4 million for the campaign. In all, $9 million has been raised toward the $12 million goal.

Proceeds will support the operation of the Farnsworth facilities devoted to the Maine-related works of Andrew Wyeth, his father, N.C., and his son, Jamie.

Andrew Wyeth's work focused on coastal Maine and Pennsylvania's Brandywine Valley. He died last year at the age of 91.

[Associated Press]

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