October 22 - Happy Birthday, Henriette Wyeth Hurd

Posted October 22, 2020

Today is the birthday of, not just today’s famous visual artist, but also three other visual artists I’ve written about: Paul Raud and Kristjan Raud and N.C. Wyeth. (See “Also on this date” below.)

Above, Kristjan Raud
Below, Paul Raud

Key Points

Did you notice that Paul and Kristjan Raud
shared the same last name? Well, of course they did – they were twins!

Did you notice that N.C. Wyeth and Henriette Wyeth Hurd ALSO share a last name?

Above, N.C. Wyeth
Below, Henriette Wyeth Hurd

Not twins! But Henriette Wyeth Hurd was N.C. Wyeth’s eldest daughter – and she happened to have been born on his birthday!

Three of N.C. Wyeth’s five children became artists. Henriette had obstacles in her way – like getting polio and losing full use of her right hand! She ended up learning to draw with her left hand and paint with her right.

Still, Henriette Wyeth Hurd was considered a child prodigy. She was homeschooled, but she enrolled in a “normal” arts school (a school meant for high-school graduates who intend to become teachers) – AT AGE 13! She enrolled at Boston Museum of Art Academy at age 14. She went away from her family to live and study at the Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts when she was just 15 – and that’s the age when she got her first commission (pay) to paint a portrait. By age 16, Hurd was already becoming well known as a portrait painter and was receiving a steady stream of commissions!

After Hurd married, she and her husband moved to New Mexico. They lived on a farm and raised three kids – and Hurd continued to make art.

Hurd painted First Lady Pat Nixon and actors Helen Hayes and Paulette Goddard. She was asked to paint a portrait of her more famous artist brother Andrew for a Time magazine cover.