Since 1980, Jamie has been obsessed with Ravens. His large-scale work "The Raven" (1980) that hangs in the collection of the Brandywine River Museum was his first major painting of the subject. "I was alone for two months when I was doing [Raven], and I got this whole thing of, ‘Is it alive with me, in the dark?’ Totally freaked me out."

This large-scale painting marks Wyeth’s transition from New York City to the worlds of Mohegan and Southern Islands. Andy Warhol saw it in 1980, at Wyeth’s one-man exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; after visiting, he noted in his diary that "Jamie is painting bigger—more Pop—pictures now. I told him he should go even bigger." With mottled, glossy feathers and one gleaming, beady eye, this larger-than-life raven approaches the edge of the canvas with its beak partly open, ready to attack its prey. (1)

Since then, Jamie has depicted Ravens in dozens of his paintings. He is obsessed with Ravens because of the beauty of their glistening black feathers and because they're among the most intelligent and resourceful of birds. In "Raven Pair, Brandywine," we see two birds in conversation near a shore on the Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania. The dramatic color of the water and thick bravura painting allows the viewer to see the world as if they were a fellow raven. At least this was how Jamie felt when painting.
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(1) Source: Brandywine River Museum