John W. McCoy

Who is John W. McCoy?

John W. McCoy was an American artist who painted landscapes, portraits, and still lifes. He was married to Ann Wyeth, daughter of N.C. Wyeth and sister of Andrew Wyeth, all artists.

Born in California, McCoy's family moved to the east coast, first to New Jersey and then to Wilmington, Delaware. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Fine Arts, studied for a year in France, worked briefly for the DuPont Company, then enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before completing his studies privately with N.C. Wyeth, working in his studio alongside the young Andrew Wyeth. It was while studying with the elder Wyeth that he met his future wife, Ann. As did other members of the Wyeth family, McCoy lived in the Brandywine River valley and along the coast of Maine, where he found the people and landscapes he took for his subjects.

Upon N.C. Wyeth's death, McCoy and Andrew Wyeth completed a series of murals that N.C. had begun for the Metropolitan Life Building in New York City.