The artist
1917 to 2005. Landscape painter, educator, National Academician and, with his wife Doris, a preserver of Weir Farm.
1917 to 1941
Charles Sperry Andrews III was born in Manhattan in 1917, and in 1920 his family moved to Bronxville, New York. He began sketching as a child, and with his father’s encouragement he studied at the National Academy of Design from 1933 to 1936. In 1938 his work appeared for the first time in the Academy’s Annual Exhibition, the beginning of a relationship with the institution that would last his whole career.
1941 to 1948
He enlisted in the United States Army in February 1941 and in September was sent to Iceland with Task Force 4. There he produced gouache sketches of the volcanic landscape, churches, GIs and residents. After transferring to the European Theater, he landed in France on June 9, 1944, earned two Bronze Service Stars for the Northern France and Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns, and returned home in April 1945.
Under the GI Bill he resumed his studies at the Art Students League of New York from about 1946 to 1948, where the modernist Morris Kantor introduced him to Cubist structural composition. In 1947 he married the artist and preservationist Doris Bass.
“His lonely sojourn during military service in the barrens of Iceland… awakened a sense of awe at the majesty of nature for him.”M. Chabot, eulogy, 2005
The work
Andrews was primarily a plein air landscape painter, working in oil, watercolor, pastel, gouache, scratchboard, etching, graphite and charcoal. The majority of his works were created at locations throughout Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island, and he used a modified Willys Jeep as a mobile studio for overnight painting trips.
He later moved from his post-war Cubist style toward realism, though traces of it remain in his landscapes of the 1960s. In the 1980s The New York Times critic Vivien Raynor noted the color and structure of his New England landscapes. Throughout his career he also attended life drawing sessions, and he taught at the Silvermine School of the Arts in Westport and the Wooster Community Arts Center in Danbury.
“I’m an eyeballer, I’d say. I’m inspired by things I see.”Sperry Andrews
1957 to 2005
After moving to Connecticut he befriended the sculptor Mahonri Young, son-in-law of the American Impressionist J. Alden Weir, and painted on Young’s property. In 1957 Sperry and Doris purchased the Weir farmhouse on the border of Wilton and Ridgefield, and its house, barns, studios, pond and woods became one of the primary subjects of his work.
To keep the land from commercial development, the couple worked with local preservation and environmental groups. In 1990 Congress designated the property the Weir Farm National Historic Site, later a National Historical Park. He lived and kept his studio there until his death on July 14, 2005.
Born Charles Sperry Andrews III in Manhattan on October 5.
His family moves to Bronxville, New York, where he begins sketching as a child.
Studies at the National Academy of Design through 1936.
First of many showings in the National Academy of Design Annual Exhibitions.
Enlists in the U.S. Army in February and is deployed to Iceland in September with Task Force 4, where he makes gouache sketches of the volcanic landscape, churches, GIs and residents.
Lands in France on June 9, shortly after Normandy. Earns two Bronze Service Stars before returning home in April 1945.
Resumes study on the GI Bill at the Art Students League, where Morris Kantor introduces him to Cubist structure.
Marries the artist and preservationist Doris Bass.
Wins the First Julius Hallgarten Prize at the National Academy of Design.
Solo exhibitions at Ferargil Gallery, New York, in 1952 and 1953.
Sperry and Doris purchase the Julian Alden Weir farmhouse on the Wilton and Ridgefield line.
Writes the letter “Why I would like to be an Artist,” which gives the books their title.
Two early paintings appear in Ernest W. Watson’s Composition in Landscape and Still Life.
Congress designates Weir Farm a National Historic Site. Elected Associate National Academician.
Elected a member of the Century Association in New York.
Elected a full National Academician.
Dies on July 14 at age 87, having lived and painted at Weir Farm until the end.
His son A. Ballard Andrews publishes the four volumes of Beauty to Embrace in an Afternoon.
Record
Original works
Original oils, watercolors and drawings are available to collectors, for homes, offices and hospitality spaces. Inquire about a single work or a group of pieces.
Where the work was made
He finished his paintings outdoors, in front of the subject. Choose a place on the map to see the work made there.