Portrait of Richard Rogers

Henriette Wyeth was the first of five children born to the legendary American illustrator Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945) and was sister to Andrew Wyeth (B. 1917). Her father was her earliest and most powerful influence, and at the age of 11 she began her formal instruction with him. In her teenage years, she continued her studies in Boston at the Normal Art School and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art in Philadelphia. It was here that she painted this warm and thoughtful portrait of a relaxed Richard Rogers, (of Rogers and Hammerstein fame), in 1925. From here she went on to develop of strong reputation as a portrait artist, painting such notables as First Lady Patricia Nixon and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller. In 1929, she married Peter Hurd, a fellow artist who was then one of N.C. Wyeth's students. They moved to New Mexico in 1938, where they lived for the remainder of their lives.