It’s begun to look a lot like Christmas, all around the Wyeth Center.

At that branch of Rockland’s Farnsworth Art Museum, a new exhibit takes a look at the holiday activities of the institution’s most famous subjects.

“A Wyeth Family Christmas,” up through Jan. 11, 2004, collects not only notable works by N.C., Andrew and James Wyeth, but also items which have festooned the Wyeth households during this season of joy.

What does Christmas mean to the Wyeths? Let’s let them explain.

Family patriarch N.C. once said that his family carried the concept of St. Nicholas as far as possible, believing that “disillusionment is a myth, providing the parents can always enter into the fairy spirit of Christmas traditions and become, for a while, children themselves.”

His grandson Jamie recently added, “Maybe the Wyeths’ great overdoing of Christmas is because it’s the one time of the year when we don’t have to hide the child, hide our unbound joy and we can go screeching around, putting holly everywhere and hanging spiders, lots of little animals on windowsills, little men, little scenes, toys everywhere, creating this whole different world within our own room.”

The idea for the exhibit came from Jamie’s wife, Phyllis. Some of the works in it have been drawn from private collections, but many of the items came from the Wyeth family itself, according to exhibit curator Victoria Woodhull.

The oil paintings and watercolors in “A Wyeth Family Christmas” feature Christmas or at least winter themes. Many of the works come from private or family collections, and as such, aren’t often available to the public, Woodhull said.

A seminal work would be N.C.’s 1925 painting “Old Kris,” originally the cover of Country Gentleman magazine.

Then there’s Andrew’s 1984 work “Antler Crown,” featuring a detailed, subtly colored tree with a chandelier of antlers hanging above it. The painting was in a Tokyo collection until 1996.

From Jamie comes a recently finished work “A Murder of Crows,” never before shown in public.

But the exhibit is also packed with other special holiday objects that anyone can relate to, including Nicholas Wyeth’s 1930s-vintage Lionel trains, a family collection of stuffed owls from F.A.O. Schwartz, a miniature version of the Tenants Harbor Light, celebrating Jamie’s adopted hometown; and a special toy castle that spans three generations of Wyeths.

The castle was built in 1927 by Nat Wyeth, then painted by N.C., then presented to Nat’s younger brother, Andrew. It was passed down to James in 1956, and inspired an imaginary village whose residents populated a series of his holiday drawings in subsequent years. The elegant line drawings speak volumes about his budding talent.

There’s also a recent series of paintings by Jamie depicting the family’s Jack Russell terriers, an annual Christmas gift for his wife, collected in this exhibit for the first time.

One of the goals of the exhibit is accessibility for all ages.

“Making it fun is making it accessible,” Woodhull asserted. “We want it to be family-oriented. Making cards and decorating are things that all families do. Also, bringing in the childhood side of their family was a way to reach kids.”

What’s been the reactions by the Wyeths who have visited the exhibit?

“Nicky comes in to play with the trains,” Woodhull said. “Jamie loves it. The dimmer it is, the more twinkly the lights, the better it is for him.”

The Farnsworth Art Museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday). Admission: Adults $8, seniors $7, students age 18 and over, $4, children 17 and under and Rockland residents free. For more information, call 596-6457. Dale McGarrigle is the assistant Style editor. He can be reached at dmcgarrigle@bangordailynews.net.