On Saturday, March 25, the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland will open the first two in a series of five exhibitions to mark the centennial of Andrew Wyeth's birth. “Andrew Wyeth at 100: Dr. Syn” will be on display in the museum's Wyeth Study Center Gallery through Sept. 9 and “Andrew Wyeth at 100: Maine Drawings” will be on view in the museum's Hadlock gallery through Dec. 31. Both shows feature rarely-seen and privately-held works, many of which will be new to Farnsworth visitors.

The first of these two exhibitions is “Andrew Wyeth at 100: Maine Drawings.” Drawings are a little-seen but vital aspect of Wyeth's work. From his earliest stirrings as an artist, Wyeth made pencil sketches, and under the tutelage of his father, famed illustrator N.C. Wyeth, became a gifted draftsman. His drawings were sometimes simple observations of the world around him, or elements of space and perspective in the scene before him, but often they were a part of a careful and often extensive preparation for making paintings. This exhibition explores the range and scope of Wyeth's drawings over the course of his career. Primarily from the collection of Andrew and Betsy Wyeth, they offer a rare opportunity to see the work of one of America's most talented draftsmen.

In making his 1981 tempera Dr. Syn,” Wyeth employed his long-standing working method of making study after study as part of determining what his finished painting was to be. In “Dr. Syn,” in the collection of Andrew and Betsy Wyeth, the artist created many drawings and watercolors devoted to determining the details of the figure, the space in which he resides, the artifacts in the space, as well as what the final composition would be. The exhibition examines the artist's fastidious working process, and will include the very costume depicted in the painting

On Saturday, April 15, the Farnsworth will open the exhibitions “Andrew Wyeth at 100: Maine Watercolors—1938-2008” and “The Olson House: Photographers' Muse,”  both at the Wyeth Center on Union and Grace streets. The final show in this series will feature the painting “Her Room” and associated studies, which will open Sept. 20.

The Lead Exhibition Sponsors for Andrew Wyeth at 100 are Camden National Bank, Mrs. F. Eugene Dixon, Kathy and Paul Anderson, and Down East magazine. Other sponsors include Mr. Richard Gilder and Ms. Lois Chiles, Anne and John Surovek, Mr. Katsushige Susaki, Mr. and Mrs. George Twigg III, 250 Main Hotel, Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Inc., Allen Insurance and Financial, Hampton Inn & Suites - Thomaston/Rockland, The Grasshopper Shop of Rockland, The Cote Corporation Crane-Rigging, Camden Riverhouse Hotel, Distinctive Tile & Design, Monhegan Boat Line. The media sponsor for Andrew Wyeth at 100 is MPBN. Andrew Wyeth at 100 is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information please visit the museum's website at www.farnsworthmuseum.org.