There’s plenty of and about Betsy Wyeth’s potent aesthetic in “By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth,” currently on view at the Brandywine Museum of Art. In her adaptive reuse of early American buildings in Maine and the Brandywine — in everything she touched, really — Wyeth’s design sense is specific and immediately recognizable: a cool, austere echo of Shaker and other American vernacular styles.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>But to take the full measure of Betsy Wyeth, you will want to read the show catalog of the same name (Rizzoli Electa, $65). Here, in a series of essays and reminiscences, Wyeth emerges as a shrewd businesswoman and impresaria — mastermind of a “generally understood, unified Andrew Wyeth brand,” as Wyeth curator and administrator William L. Coleman puts it in the opening essay.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>We already knew that she handled just about everything that needed doing in order to free her husband to paint. But what Michaelis beautifully details is how deeply involved she was in the art itself — giving titles to his work, and exerting influence over the color, composition, and subject matter.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>She urged him to simplify, to take things out of paintings he had wanted to include.
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a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>Then, Michaelis wrote, he would go off and do exactly as she said.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>— Peter Dobrin
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A portal to Black girlhood in a Library Company artifact
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>The next morning, we’d take our places next to the kitchen stove and turn the channel to Soul Train on our small black and white TV. Mommy oiled my scalp again then, with a sizzling iron comb with the tiniest teeth, she straightened each section of my hair; making my tresses sizzle. Sometimes the comb would kiss my ear. When she was done, I had shiny shoulder-length hair with a flip on the bottom.
The first page of this early 1900s pamphlet explaining Madam CJ Walker’s Walker Method to salon owners.The Library Company of Philadelphia
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the original pamphlets describing the Walker Method, step-by-step, and what was included in the Walker Special Outfit, the all-inclusive entrepreneurial kit. That included a stiff hair brush, face towels, Walker’s specially formulated conditioning concoction, a smock — that Walker refers to as a hair dresser’s cloth — and, of course, a handmade steel comb.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>Just reading these instructions brought me back to my girlhood, before chemical relaxers, weaves, and extensions became the norm.
Step by step instructions of how to do Madam CJ Walker’s Walker Method to salon owners. The pamphlet was given to Black salon owners in the early 1900’s.The Library Company of Philadelphia
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a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>Getting my hair pressed every week wasn’t just my introduction to a beauty regiment, it was how I bonded with my mother and other Black women.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>The Library Company of Philadelphia is located at 1314 Locust St, 19107.
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A bicentennial logo makes a nostalgic comeback during the semiquincentennial
A vintage print of the logo that was sold by Sales by Helen in 2023.Courtesy of Sales by Helen
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>Created by Philadelphian graphic designer and watercolor painter Frank Nofer, the logo features several iconic symbols of Philadelphia standing for the letters in the city’s name. After copyrighting, Nofer’s logo was printed on seemingly infinite pieces of merchandise, from T-shirts to mugs to ashtrays.
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Old City spot, which shut down in 2009, was world famous for its oysters and lobster. Though it may not be relevant to 2026 Philadelphia, that little lobster is sure to spark nostalgia for anyone who lived in the area before the 2010s.
Frank Nofer’s “Philadelphia” logo featured on a mug, one of many pieces of merchandise.Courtesy of Sales by Helen
Facebook post from someone who purchased a Nofer “Philadelphia” T-shirt on eBay, several people have still held onto their merchandise, praising the design.
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>— Morgan Ritter
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Ben Vaughn. His new new song together with Deer Tick is “Imitation Wood Grain,” and Vaughn’s just announced new album ‘Magnetic East: The Deer Tick Sessions’ is due on Yep Rec Records in October.Shana Cassidy
A vintage Ben Vaughn brings back the romance of “the South Jersey pines”
a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>The band’s fandom has resulted in a friendship and playing shows together, and now a forthcoming Ben Vaughn album called Magnetic East: The Deer Tick Sessionsthat’s due out Oct. 30 on Yep Roc Records.
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a]:text-blue-mid [&>a]:no-underline [&>a]:hover:shadow-lightmode px-4 font-medium”>“Inspired by a visit to the thrift store, it’s probably the first most nostalgic song I’ve ever written,” Vaughn wrote in a Facebook post. It’s also vintage Vaughn; a clever, well-crafted ironic-yet-not-ironic song that meshes with Deer Tick’s own bemused sensibility (and features Vanessa Carlton on backing vocals).
I cover classical music and the arts with an emphasis on the business of the arts and the life of the city.
As a staff photographer, I document the stories of the people. My photos capture the spirit of the individuals and events that shape the Philadelphia region.
I’m The Inquirer’s Pop Music Critic. I cover Philly music makers of all genres, spotlighting local acts on the rise, telling stories from throughout the city’s rich music history, and reviewing big-name touring acts when they come to town.
