An American Dynasty

Three generations of Wyeths will be featured in a new exhibition in Northern California

By Michael Clawson

Through September 13, 2026

Napa Valley Museum of Art & Culture
607 St. Helena Highway
t: 707.944.0500
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Many great names reverberate with reverence through the marbled halls of American art: Warhol, O’Keeffe, Hopper, Sargent, Rockwell. And yet one name, Wyeth, doesn’t just ring out—it harmonizes. At the Napa Valley Museum of Art & Culture, works by Wyeth family members will come together under one roof to tell a larger story about America’s most famous art dynasty.

Now open at the museum’s location in St. Helena, California, is The Wyeths: Three Generations | Works from the Bank of America Collection. Not only will the exhibition feature works by the three main Wyeths—N.C. Wyeth, his son Andrew Wyeth, and Andrew’s son Jamie Wyeth—but also works from Henriette Wyeth (N.C.’s daughter and Andrew’s sister) and her husband, Peter Hurd. An adjacent exhibition, My Andy: Photographs by Victoria Wyeth, will feature the photography of Victoria Wyeth, who is the only granddaughter of Andrew and the niece of Jamie.

Victoria Wyeth, Amplified (Andrew Wyeth), 2002. Photograph, 8 x 10 in.

For the museum’s executive director, Laura Rafaty, the exhibition offers a rare chance for West Coasters to experience Wyeth artwork that has long been associated with the East Coast, specifically Brandywine Valley in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

“For people who are flat-out Californians, these paintings are so universal. N.C. is talking about heroism in these large works that illustrated books about knights jousting or coastal subjects like sea captains. His work resonates with everyone,” Rafaty says. “But once you can step back from it all, the family dynamics between the Wyeths is also universal. You can see how different Andy painted after his father passed away. You see more of the abstraction and leaning into a modern sensibility [with Andrew], and then you get to Jamie and you can see how he gets more rebellious. This exhibition shows the intergenerational dynamics that resonates with our visitors.”

Jamie Wyeth, September 11th, 2001, mixed media on toned board, 19¼ x 26¼ in. Bank of America © 2026 Wyeth Foundation for American Wyeth Foundation for American Art / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), Tam on the Craig Face, 1924. Oil on canvas, 34¼ x 25 in.

She adds, “This show also offers a reflection on what it means to be an American during a really special time in the country as we celebrate 250 years.”

The Napa Valley Museum of Art & Culture, often referred to locally as the MAC, has existed for 50 years, but there are still challenges for a regional museum of its size, Rafaty notes. So when the museum presented The Wyeths: Three Generations, it was a boon for the institution.

N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), The Clippers (presentation painting), 1923. Oil on canvas board, 21 x 15¾ in.

N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), Untitled Landscape, 1923. Oil on canvas, 32¼ x 34¼ in.

“We’re still gaining visibility, even though we’ve been around for more than 50 years. Sometimes we have exhibitions and visitors seem surprised we have real Picassos on the wall, as if a museum of this size can’t have works of that caliber. But we do,” she says. “So this is exhibition is important to us.”

Works on view include two of N.C.’s famous illustrations from a 1921 illustrated edition of Rip Van Winkle, including the cover. Also from N.C. are landscapes and a magnificent painting of clipper ships on the open ocean, as well as Tam on the Craig Face, showing a man dangling down a seaside cliff with seagulls filling the air around him. Works by Jamie include Patriot’s Barn, which should speak to visitors this summer during the celebration around America’s 250th birthday.

N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), A Young Maine, Fisherman, 1933. Oil on canvas, 523⁄8 x 481⁄8 in.

Jamie Wyeth, Patriot’s Barn, 2021, mixed media on toned board, 32¼ x 42 in. Bank of America © 2026 Wyeth Foundation for American Wyeth Foundation for American Art / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The Victoria Wyeth photographs will shine a light into Andrew’s life. Images include the artist sleeping in his studio, at work outdoors and flashing a larger-than-life smile. Victoria has become an outspoken advocate for the Wyeth Family in the 21st century, and she will be involved with programming at the museum to celebrate the two exhibitions.

Both The Wyeths: Three Generations and My Andy: Photographs by Victoria Wyeth will remain on view through September 13. —