Art News

Jamie Wyeth Dog Portrait to Be Auctioned in NYC

NEW YORK (AP).- A menagerie of animals has wandered in and out of Jamie Wyeth’s art studio on his Delaware farm over the years, including his late yellow Labrador, Kleberg. But when the pooch got too close to his easel back in the 1980s, Wyeth painted a black circle around the dog’s eye — a la Pete the Pup of the old comedy “Little Rascals.” The unusual marking became so “endearing” that the lab became the subject of numerous studies and paintings, the artist said. One of those works, “Study of Kleberg,” is scheduled to be sold at Christie’s on March 3 for an estimated $40,000 to $60,000. The 1984 mixed media work went on exhibit there on Thursday. The seller is a collector from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who has owned it for 20 years. Wyeth is the son of the great American painter Andrew Wyeth and the grandson of classic novel illustrator N.C. Wyeth. He paints the animals, people and landscapes in and around his studio an