Skip to Main Content

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.

Together, these exhibitions show how Wyeth applied her vision across hundreds of acres in Brinton’s Mill, Pennsylvania, and at locations across Maine, including Broad Cove Farm, Southern Island, and Allen and Benner Islands, which she purchased in 1979 and 1990, respectively.

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.

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 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.

Claire Pentecost

Installation view of a large-scale, textured textile piece mounted on a wall. The artwork portrays a landscape split between the surface world and the underground. At the top, slender trees with green leaves stand along a rocky stone wall or shoreline against a blue sky. Below the stones, a sprawling and thick root system rendered in bright pink, lavender, and sky blue yarn extends deeply into a dark brown and deep blue subterranean layer. Scattered among the roots are approximately eight small, circular, multi-colored embroidered medallions.

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.

Installation Views

  • An installation view of an art gallery featuring three large horizontal paintings of minimalist landscapes under ceiling track lighting. The left painting features bold blue and white abstract shapes, the center painting depicts thin black tree silhouettes against a gray sky, and the right painting shows a white bird in flight over an open blue sky. A long black leather bench sits on the light hardwood floor in front of the white gallery walls.
  • An installation view of a well-lit art gallery with white walls and a light wood floor. On the main wall, three large paintings are displayed side by side: a vertical landscape of bare winter tree branches, a vertical painting of a tree trunk surrounded by bright green leaves, and a horizontal painting of a calm blue sea against a beige shoreline. In the center of the room sits a long black tufted leather bench under bright track lighting.
  • An installation view of a white-walled gallery room featuring several large paintings and drawings under track lighting. The left wall displays large, loose charcoal sketches of figures and faces, while the far wall shows a vibrant painting of a tree trunk with green leaves next to a coastal seascape. A long, dark wood reading table surrounded by several black chairs sits in the center of the polished hardwood floor.
  • An installation view of a white gallery wall showcasing five large, loosely handled portrait sketches in matching light wood frames. The sketches depict various faces and expressive figures drawn in dark charcoal or ink on light-colored paper. The artwork arrangement hangs uniformly above a reflective, light-colored hardwood floor.
  • An installation view of a gallery corner featuring a white wall meeting a bright coral-pink wall over light hardwood flooring. The white wall displays two large horizontal landscape drawings in simple wooden frames. The coral-pink wall on the right showcases a wide horizontal sequence of smaller framed sketches and colorful paintings.
  • An installation view of an art gallery corner with off-white walls and light hardwood flooring. The left wall features two framed portrait drawings, including a large expressive sketch on a solid reddish-brown background. The right wall displays four small, uniformly framed pencil drawings of individual flowers arranged in a neat horizontal row.
  • An installation view of a coral-pink gallery wall showing a large, rectangular grid layout of eighteen small white-framed minimalist sketches under track lighting. The artwork arrangement hangs uniformly above a light-colored hardwood floor. A wooden bench sits obliquely in the foreground.
  • An installation view of a bright coral-pink wall displaying a dense salon-style grid arrangement of eighteen small white-framed minimalist line drawings. In the background, a perpendicular off-white wall features two larger framed sketches under ceiling track lighting. A long, simple wooden bench rests on the polished light hardwood floor in the foreground.
  • An installation view of a corner where a coral-pink wall meets an off-white wall over a light hardwood floor. The pink wall on the left displays a large vertical grid of eighteen small white-framed sketches, while the off-white wall on the right features two larger framed sketches. A long wooden gallery bench sits positioned obliquely in the room under overhead track lighting.
  • An installation view of a gallery corner featuring bright coral-pink walls and light hardwood flooring under track lighting. The left wall displays four small, white-framed drawings of flowers arranged horizontally. The back wall features a large salon-style grid arrangement of eighteen small white-framed minimalist line drawings.

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Installation view of By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth, the Colby Museum’s Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville, Maine, 2026. Photo: Art Index

Catalogue

Front cover of the book By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth featuring a painting of a woman in a wide-brimmed brown hat facing a weathered wooden building with a single blue-trimmed window.

Explore Further

Learn More About the Exhibition