For What It’s Wyeth


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It’s been six years this week since the appearance of this Sunday Arlo & Janis tribute to the painter Andrew Wyeth, who had just passed away. It includes an embarrassing mistake on my part, but it must not have been too embarrassing, because I’m reminding you of it here. It wasn’t difficult to isolate several Wyeth paintings that could (roughly) be adapted to the cast of A&J. Except for Ludwig, the cat. So imagine my relief when I found, on the internet, “Kitty in the Window,” the painting in the fourth panel. In my haste, I missed a few pesky details. The problem was, “Kitty in the Window” (my title) wasn’t a Wyeth painting at all but a photograph taken in Westport, Mass., by Frieda Squires, a photographer for The Providence (RI) Journal. The cutline mentioned that the mood and colors of the photograph were very Wyeth-like, which is how I happened to find the image by searching for “Wyeth.” Not many people caught the mistake, and the kitty served its purpose. Thanks, Frieda!