Orca Bates (born 1976) was the favorite model for artist Jamie Wyeth.[1][2] He was first painted in late 1989, and numerous times over the next five years.[3] Orca was a "wild child",[4][5] described by Jamie as "more of a seagull than a person".[6] Orca's parents, Daniel and Amy Bates, had divorced by the time Orca was 12. Both remarried and continued to live on Manana Island (adjacent to Monhegan island, about 10 miles [16 km] off Pemaquid Point on the mainland), where they were neighbors of Jamie Wyeth. Orca and his younger sister, Kila, split their time between the two households.[7]
Orca currently lives in Pine Island, New York. He married Colleen Dougherty in 2011.[8] Orca's younger half-brother, Cat Bates (born 1986), also modeled for Jamie Wyeth in 1995.[9]
Wyeth's paintings of Orca Bates include:
- "Portrait of Orca Bates," 1989, oil on panel, 50 x 40 in., William A Farnsworth Library & Art Museum, standing holding a large bird
- “Orca Bates,” 1990, oil on panel, 40 x 40 in., collection of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
- "Orca" 1990, Standing in blue uniform, 50 x 44 in.
- Screen Door to the Sea, 1994, oil on panel, 36 x 30 in.
Additional reading edit
Anderson, Cindy, "A Portrait of Orca Bates", Yankee, Vol. 60, No. 9, Sept. 1996, pp. 54–127
Footnotes edit
- ^ Anderson, Cindy, "A Portrait of Orca Bates", Yankee, Vol. 60, No. 9, Sept. 1996, p. 124
- ^ Standring, Timothy J., Wyeth: Andrew & Jamie in the Studio, Yale University Press, 2015, p. 44
- ^ https://freepressonline.com/Content/Columnists/Picturing-Maine-by-Chris-Crosman/Article/Jamie-Wyeth-s-Orca-Bates-/50/772/31001 Crosman, Christopher, "Jamie Wyeth's "Orca Bates"" in The Free Press, Feb. 26, 2014
- ^ https://whyy.org/articles/a-voyage-to-wyeths-magical-islands/ Conway, Terry, "A Voyage to Wyeth’s Magical Islands", Newsworks, Jan. 21, 2015
- ^ Anderson, Cindy, "A Portrait of Orca Bates", Yankee, Vol. 60, No. 9, Sept. 1996, p. 56
- ^ http://www.jeanneschinto.com/commentaries/category/monhegan-island Schinto, Jeanne, "Jamie Wyeth's Retrospective", July 18, 2014
- ^ Anderson, Cindy, "A Portrait of Orca Bates", Yankee, Vol. 60, No. 9, Sept. 1996, p. 123
- ^ https://www.facebook.com/OrcaBates/about?section=year-overviews&lst=100038133961397%3A1085797925%3A1560533003 Facebook [user-generated source]
- ^ Anderson, Cindy, "A Portrait of Orca Bates", Yankee, Vol. 60, No. 9, Sept. 1996, p. 127