Chadds Ford, PA - Fourteen spectacular paintings of birds by Jamie Wyeth are now on view in the Bayard and Mary Sharp Gallery on the third floor of the Brandywine River Museum.

Jamie Wyeth’s bird paintings received a widely-acclaimed exhibition in 2005. The works range from oil on canvas to watercolor to combined mediums. The artist captures the strange individuality of various birds and, at times, their seemingly human characteristics of aggression, humor, curiosity, and mischief. “Had I been born in New York, I’d probably be painting taxis—I’m sure I would be—but because I live on this farm, I paint objects and landscapes I know and love,” Wyeth said.

The paintings in the installation come from several collections including the Cawley Family, Jamie Wyeth, Phyllis Wyeth, the Brandywine River Museum, and a private collector.

The Brandywine River Museum also features other works by Jamie Wyeth, including his well-known Portrait of Pig and works by Carolyn Wyeth, Henriette Wyeth, Peter Hurd, John McCoy, and George A. “Frolic” Weymouth.

Jamie Wyeth's work had become more widely known, having been shown alongside his father's and grandfather's at an exhibition in 1971 at the Brandywine River Museum at Chadds Ford, a handsome building had been converted from an old grist mill by the nonprofit Brandywine Conservancy formed to save the area from overdevelopment. A highlight of the show was the younger Wyeth's meticulously executed Portrait of Pig ( http://www.jamiewyeth.com/pig.html ) which spans seven by five feet. Wyeth has since created many other "portraits" of animals, ranging from Newfoundland (1971) to The Raven (1980).