Peter Newitt

Peter Newitt (affectionately known as “Pete”) says he is an immigrant who was born with an artistic DNA strand. At the age of 4, he was attempting to duplicate drawings from children’s books in his birthplace of England. He was soon in a healthy competition with his identical twin brother, who grew to become a professionally trained artist.

Pete’s father left the family to work in the US and eventually moved Pete with him in Chadds Ford, Pa when he was 8 years old. His school would hold annual art shows where the father of an older schoolmate, who happened to be world-renown artist Andrew Wyeth, would judge.  It was a big deal to see this larger-than-life prominent American master take time to judge this anticipated event.  In fourth grade, Mr. Wyeth awarded Pete the grand prize honors.  He grew to be lifelong friends with the Wyeths, but his love for painting truly derived from those elementary days.

Without any formal art training after high school, Pete taught himself.  He shared, “While slow and plodding at first, my art began to progress.” Early successes at art shows inspired him onward.  And he allowed those things in life that pushed all his emotional buttons to move his paint brush — beauty, pain and human tragedy, unforgettable people and events, and often sports.  Pete celebrates the joys in life, the grace, the miraculous and infinite magic of nature, and sometimes takes pause to depict human frailty.

“It is this counterbalance of life that intrigues me.”  Pete’s painted wall murals, upgraded eateries… and allows his work to continue to evolve.  Whether depicting icon moments in sports, Americana, florals, horse racing or the sea. Within each piece, he reveals more of himself… which is why he must continue to do what he does.