Sad note to end the week: American painter Andrew Wyeth died early today at his home in Philadelphia. He was 91 years old. Read more details from The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Our staff was fortunate enough to catch the exhibition, "Andrew Wyeth: Watercolors and Drawings," at the Cincinnati Art Museum in 2007—with a guided tour by the artist’s granddaughter, Victoria Wyeth, no less—which Anne wrote about in the June 2007 issue of the magazine. When Anne asked a question that Victoria wasn’t sure she could answer, Victoria phoned him using Anne’s mobile! (After which, Anne had to erase the number from her call log in front of Victoria, for security purposes.)

Personally speaking, it was particularly interesting to learn what being a part of the Wyeth legacy entails. “To make the connection that the people sitting across the table and living next door to you are the people in the paintings—once that clicks, it’s the most amazing thing,” said Victoria. “He always says, ‘Vic, I’m painting my life.’ And he is painting his life, but he’s painting my life, too.”

ArtNetwork Press invites you to listen (for free, via telephone or online) to one of the keynote speakers of its smARTist Telesummit 2009, “Facebook Expert” Mari Smith, and her presentation, "How to Sell Art on Facebook,” 7-8 p.m. (EST) Monday, Jan. 12. Click here for reservations.

Speaking of Facebook, have you found us there yet? If not, visit our page—search for ArtistsNetwork.com—and “become a fan” in the top right-hand corner of the page. There you’ll find information about our magazine as well as sister publications Watercolor Artist and The Artist’s Magazine.

Made a resolution to travel more in 2009, did you? Start today with a video slide show of Alan Flattmann’s trip to Puy L’eveque, France, with Great American Artworks’ Box Top Tours. Flattmann was one of the featured artists in the February 2009 issue’s special report, “The French Connection,” which explored the thrill of painting in the South of France—both from an instructor’s and painter’s perspective.

Click here to watch the video.

Bon voyage!

As we try to wrap things up here at the office (as much as that is possible) and prepare to head out for holiday time with our families, we'd like to take the opportunity to wish our family of friends on the blog a wonderful holiday season. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your paintings turn out just right!

We'll be back next week!

(left to right) Sarah Strickley (features editor), Jessica Canterbury (managing editor), Anne Hevener (editor) and Cindy Rider (art director)

The world's public photography archives are at your fingertips with Flickr's new online project: The Commons. So far, participating organizations include the The Library of Congress, Brooklyn Museum, Smithsonian Institution and the New York Public Library, to name only a few. Visitors are invited to enjoy unprecedented access to publicly-held collections and to add their own contributions by adding tags or leaving comments. Click on one of my favorites from the Brooklyn Museum above to see what others are saying about it. Pretty cool, eh?

According to the National Endowment for the Arts, female artists earn less than male artists—surprise! According to the recently released study, “Women Artists: 1990-2005,” an increasing number of women are taking on more traditionally male artist occupations, but still earn less than male artists. This study further examined female artist employment trends that were featured in the May 2008 report, “Artists in the Workforce: 1990-2005.”

According to the study, women artists who work full-year, full-time earn 75 cents for every dollar made by men artists. On the whole, women workers earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. Other findings: Women make up just less than half of all artists nationwide (46 percent), yet are underrepresented in many artist professions; women have achieved a greater presence in some artist occupations, such as photography; women artists are as likely to be married as female workers in general, but less likely to have children; and female artists cluster in low-population states.

Find the full details at www.nea.gov.