Congratulations are in order for artist Andrew Wyeth, who was presented a 2007 National Medal of Arts yesterday by President Bush. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, “Wyeth received the award for ‘a lifetime of paintings whose meticulous realism have captured the American consciousness, and whose austere vision has displayed the depth and dignity of rural American life.’ ”

This isn’t by any means the first national honor the artist has received. In addition to earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963) and the Congressional Gold Medal (1988), he’s been elected into the Académie des Beaux-Arts (1977) and the first living American artist elected into Britain's Royal Academy (1980). What more can we say? He’s a true modern master. His father N.C. would be proud.

Photo: National Endowment for the Arts