Test your knowledge with a quiz
Wyeth, Kalounna
Key points
- Following the Vietnam War, refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos settled in America. This was often a treacherous journey. The boy in Jamie Wyeth’s painting, Kalounna in Frogtown, was a Laotian immigrant who had relocated to rural Pennsylvania with his family.
- Part of a family of American artists, Jamie Wyeth continues their realistic style, but also incorporates a sense of mystery and tension that is difficult to define. This painting contains a series of contrasts, many of which describe how Kalounna is both integrated into this landscape and set apart from it.
Go deeper
Learn more about Laotian involvement in the Vietnam War
Read an article from 1980 about Laotian refugees “Refugees Pour Out of Laos, Seeking New Life” at the Washington Post
Read a personal account by a Laotian refugee
Follow the story of a Laotian family that immigrated to America
The Tet Offensive 50 Years Later at NPR
The Tet Offensive at Smithsonian Magazine
Laos’ entanglement in the Vietnam War at the British Library blog
Explore primary sources related to the Vietnam War
Jamie Wyeth talks about his portrait paintings
More to think about
The video talks about how Jamie Wyeth had Kalounna sign the painting along with his own signature, and that this gives Kalounna agency. What do you think means? Why do you think Wyeth might have wanted Kalounna to sign this portrait?
