#OnThisDay May 10th, 1985. #MichaelJackson visited the Brandywine River Museum, but the reason for Andrew Wyeth's refusal to paint Michael's portrait was not revealed until 1998, in a biography of the painter, written by Richard Meryman, Andrew Wyeth, The Secret Life.
Richard Meryman explained that when Wyeth's agents heard about a possible portrait of Michael Jackson, they were thrilled at the idea of the millions that this painting and its future reproductions would generate. Andrew refered to them as "the mafia" who were using him for money and didn't care about him at all. They all wanted to be photographed with Michael Jackson who came with his own entourage.
The two artists met at the Brandywine River Museum, where they looked at Andrews' paintings and talked. "He was a very sweet, sensitive, personable, intelligent person," Wyeth told Meryman.
At one point, a man in Michael Jackson's entourage said Jackson had 10 more minutes and then they were leaving. "Everything was going great between us, it took this guy to step in. This poor man was possessed by these people. I felt sorry for him. God help any artist who gets screwed like that," Andy stated.
Although he felt that a real connection had been made between Michael and himself, Andrew preferred to drop the project: "Can you imagine me painting with the bodyguards standing right next to me!"
When you look at the portraits Wyeth has done, managing to bring out the mood, often melancholy, and expression of his models, Michael's would have, without a doubt, been very realistic.
Sources: Rachel ( On MJ Footsteps )
