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By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth

Location

Space

Dates

A photograph of a dimly lit, rustic wooden attic space. In the center of the dark wooden floor, an open rectangular hatch leads to the floor below. A small window on the left lets in bright white light, and a single lit wall sconce glows near a slanted ceiling beam. A mysterious, faint blue horizontal blur floats in the center of the frame.
A yellow sticky note with handwritten text in black ink. It reads "ME" with a heart symbol, followed by "Betsy Merle James WYETH," "born September 26, 1925," and "MARRIED ANDREW NEWELL WYETH MAY 15, 1941."

The exhibition also features intimate archival materials that offer glimpses of Wyeth’s inner life, including a childhood journal and handwritten sticky notes that she left for herself around her home. These will appear in conjunction with several key paintings of Allen and Benner Islands by Andrew Wyeth, who frequently drew and painted the places that Betsy Wyeth meticulously constructed.

The Colby Museum presentation is curated by Kendall DeBoer, assistant curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth is accompanied by a hardcover catalogue published by Rizzoli Electa, featuring essays by the curators and more than a dozen additional contributors who share their perspectives on Betsy Wyeth, her work, and the places she loved.

Artists

Mandy Lamb
Linda Nguyen Lopez
Elaine K. Ng
Claire Pentecost
Andrew Wyeth
Betsy James Wyeth

Additional Sites

Brandywine Museum of Art
Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
June 27, 2026–January 13, 2027

Farnsworth Art Museum
Rockland, Maine
May 2–December 31, 2026

Selected Works

Elaine K. Ng

A high-contrast, black-and-white photograph by Elaine K. Ng. The focal point is a large, smooth, triangular rock resting vertically among a pile of other rounded, textured stones.

Elaine K. Ng

A close-up detail of a textile work featuring a patchwork of rectangular linen panels in muted tones of lavender, dusty rose, sage green, slate grey, and mustard yellow. Various organic, pebble-like shapes in contrasting earth tones are appliquéd onto the panels using visible stitching. Delicate, wandering lines of white dashed embroidery and pink fabric piping travel across the composition, suggesting cartographic features like paths or coastlines. The texture of the woven fabric is prominent throughout.

Mandy Lamb

A profile view of a dark green or black Windsor chair centered against a wall of wide, horizontal wooden planks. A patterned textile with red and cream tones is draped over the seat and armrest. The wooden wall in the background shows faint scrawled markings and inscriptions. The scene is set on a dark, rustic wooden floor.

Linda Nguyen Lopez

A free-standing, sculptural mosaic fragment with an irregular, trapezoidal shape that tapers to a point at the upper left. The piece is composed of "pique assiette" style ceramic shards. The primary surface is covered in white matte tiles, with a flowing, organic pattern of blue and light blue glazed ceramic pieces moving across the center. A small section of textured, metallic gold or bronze-toned shards is visible on the left edge. The object is set against a neutral, two-toned grey and white background.

Linda Nguyen Lopez

Irregular horizontal ceramic mosaic with an off-white background. Abstract designs in orange, green, and blue tesserae are scattered across the surface, which is set into a rough, sandy-brown base.

Andrew Wyeth

A watercolor and graphite study titled "Ship's Door Study." On the left, a woman in a dark coat (likely Betsy Wyeth) looks through binoculars. The scene shows a white doorway and a steep, dark wooden staircase with a birdcage hanging from the ceiling.

Andrew Wyeth

Square-format watercolor and tempera painting depicting a bright, octagonal interior room with a vaulted ceiling. In the lower left foreground, two translucent, ghost-like figures in 18th-century dress (wigs and frock coats) stand in profile, facing right. In the center distance, a small, solid figure of a woman sits at a dark table covered in papers, seen through a row of multi-paned windows that overlook a golden-brown landscape and blue sea. Broad, radiating beams of light or architectural rafters extend from the top center down toward the walls, rendered in pale greys and yellows.

Allen and Benner Islands at Colby College

In 2022, Colby College became the steward of Allen and Benner Islands, acquiring them from the Up East Foundation and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art to establish the Island Campus.  Part of an important initiative to preserve these extraordinary areas, Colby College continues to utilize them as centers for interdisciplinary learning, research, and creative inspiration across the natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. The Island Campus supports year-round academic programs, critical research on climate change and biodiversity, student and faculty fieldwork, and creative endeavors while honoring the islands’ important cultural legacy.

Image 5: Film Still, Betsy's World A wide, horizontal landscape photograph featuring a sprawling field of tall, pale green and yellow grasses in the foreground. In the background, set against a line of dark evergreen trees and a grey, overcast sky, are several weathered wooden buildings. To the left stands a large, saltbox-style barn with grey shingles. To the right is a two-story farmhouse with white-trimmed windows and two dormers on a gabled roof, flanked by smaller outbuildings. Centered in the middle ground, the words BETSY'S WORLD are overlaid in a white, serif, all-caps typeface. The overall color palette is muted and atmospheric, dominated by earthy greens, greys, and tans.

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A wide, horizontal photograph of a sprawling field of tall, dry, pale-green and tan grasses. In the background, situated on a slight rise, are several weathered, grey-shingled buildings under a heavy, overcast sky. To the left is a large, tall barn with a steeply pitched roof. To the right is a prominent three-story farmhouse with white-trimmed windows and two dormers on its gabled roof. A dark line of evergreen trees creates a horizon line behind the structures. The overall atmosphere is somber and muted, with a palette of earthy greens, greys, and browns.