In the "First Impressions" series, a detailed, perceptive portrait
of a contemporary painter who has received both critical admiration
and popular acclaim, by a long-time friend who first wrote about
Wyeth in the 60's. Meryman's primary focus is Wyeth's boyhood - a
choice that, in this case, is appropriate: his lively youth and
relationship with his colorful but overwhelming father, N. C.
Wyeth, is not only of particular interest to young people but
crucial to Andrew's development. N.C., who had hoped for
recognition as a painter, was best known as a fine illustrator; he
was also a respected teacher. Andrew was lucky to be the last of
his five gifted children, thriving in the vibrant family milieu but
also benefiting from some benign neglect. His own work is seen here
as a rich, creative blend of N.C.'s rigorous instruction and
fertile example, and of an artist's compelling need to find his own
way. Countering the popular conception of Andrew as a throwback or
traditionalist, Meryman points out both the emotional complexity of
his subjects and their treatment and the intellectual nature of
compositions that, like abstract art, are determined more by form
and color than by content. The paintings reproduced are well chosen
to represent Wyeth's development and range. A fascinating,
entertaining, and beautiful book. Excellent color reproductions
with full citations; b&w photos; index. (Kirkus Reviews)
"A revelation. No one will ever view Andrew Wyeth's apparently tranquil works the same way again after reading this vivid and astonishing portrait of the turbulent, driven man who paints them. Richard Meryman has written a wonderful book."
- Geoffrey C. Ward
At its most fundamental level, this stunning and unique biography describes a distinguished painter's enterprise of transmitting emotion onto a flat surface. It explores all the factors that have combined to create Andrew Wyeth -- his childhood in a hothouse of creativity; his hypersensitivity; his formidable wife; his identification with people marginalized and misunderstood -- all which have made him an American icon. In the process, his realist works in watercolor and tempera, including the famous "Christina's World," have gained him a special and secure niche in the history of American art.
The book is a portrait of obsession -- how single-mindedness has affected Wyeth's relationships and transformed his world into a realm of secrecy and fervid imagination. Those who read this book will never look at Wyeth's work as they did before. It reveals the artist's dark depths, as well as the ruthless, angry, child/man fantasist who paints the basic brutalities of existence -- death and madness --that vibrate eerily beneath his pictures' calm surfaces.
Richard Meryman's narrative is almost novelistic, with its larger-than-life characters and subplots: the tragedy of C.C. Wyeth; Betsy Wyeth's campaign for independence and individuality; the byzantine 15-year-long drama of the Helga paintings; the eccentric and creative Wyeth clan; and the idiosyncratic land and people of Maine and Pennsylvania.
Based on 30 years of research, frequent visits and countless conversations with the artist, his family, friends, admirers and critics, Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life is the only book about the man and the artist that gets behind his carefully guarded screen, tells the full story of his life and reveals his complex personality and the motivations for his paintings.
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