Product Description
Prior to the 1960s, Andrew Wyeth enjoyed a stellar reputation as a rising star in the art world. Since then, critics and scholars have largely ignored him. Wyeth, however, who is age 88 at the date of publication, has continued to paint, to the delight of his admirers, collectors, and the art-loving public. Now, in association with the High Museum exhibition, Andrew Wyeth: Memory & Magic takes a fresh look at the work of one of America's most beloved artists.In examining his entire oeuvre, the book celebrates the artist's ongoing love affair with everyday life-domestic, natural, and architectural. Found throughout Wyeth's work, these objects form patterns that illuminate core themes and reveal the artist wrestling with issues of memory, temporality, embodiment, and the metaphysical. Organized chronologically and thematically, the book explores how the artist's approach to these subjects was formed in his early career, and has been revisited in new and surprising ways in recent years.Andrew Wyeth: Memory & Magic comprises 150 tempera paintings and 50 drawings and watercolors-including his most-famous works, but also many published here for the first time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Andrew Wyeth: Memory& magic
A beautiful book about the artist's best work and the motif for his paintings. The artist's background and his technique.

Andrew Wyeth Framed Print On Canvas
I was very pleased with my purchase and would higly recommend it to anyone interested in Andrew Wyeth works of art. The price is right too!

Andrew Wyeth: Memoria y Magia
Quizas la mejor publicacion sobre Wyeth jamas realizada... casi todas sus Obras Maestras impresas con una calidad impecable...si te intereza la obra de Wyeth, este es el libro.

Good book, but....
A very nice,well done coffee table book.....the thing is-this guy is 90 years old and has done thousands of paintings...why do the same plates keep showing up book after book after book for the last 4 decades? I've seen 90% of these already! Where's the rest??

A quality offering
A large format exhibition catalogue, a slightly over square volume printed on quality art paper. The introduction discusses Wyeth's development and output in relation to other artists; this is followed by four essays covering various aspects of the artist's work. These sections are illustrated throughout almost entirely in colour with examples of Wyeth's work and comparative examples of other's, many of them at a good size. The main section of full colour plates commences on age 122 and concludes on page 209. This is followed by a detailed list of works in the exhibition; there is no chronology or bibliography.

The main section of plates presents the images one to a page, and many are of a good size. Inevitably the long landscape proportion images do not fare so well, with the publishers seemingly reluctant to cross the gutter, these appear as little more than a three or four inch wide strip across the page; even a number of the more regularly proportioned works could easily have been reproduced larger. However that aside it is a fine volume, beautifully produced and with a feel of quality, which offers over 150 examples of Wyeth's output including paintings, watercolours and drawings reproduced in full colour.
... Read more

Product Description
This lavish volume reproduces 138 tempera, drybrush & watercolor paintings & pencil studies by Andrew Wyeth. The most comprehensive retrospective of the artist's work ever produces. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Amazing book!
This book is for the true Andrew Wyeth fan.The pictures are amazing and the articles informative.It made a wonderful gift for an elderly gentleman who loved this artist.The pictures will come alive for you and the depth of his passion for painting will pull you right into them.A truly remarkable artist who will be greatly missed after his passing in 2009.

great overall and excellent value
i bought this book together with 'memory and magic'. As an artist I found this book much more informative and acessible than the other. It contains Wyeth's own personal comments about his work, which are wonderful and incisive, together with lots of preparatory sketches and other bits of information that really add to your enjoyment and understanding of the work.
It has a full colour plate on every page, and so contains a lot of work with this wonderful feeling of personal insight). The other book is great too, but is more of a 'standard' art book (eg several essays, plus all the favourite images you'd expect to find) if had had to pick one I would pick this one - just as good (if not better) and half the cost! This is a really great inclusion to any art book library. The only thing that memory and magic has that this one doesent is close up details from some of the tempera and drybrush paintings which are great to be able to really see the detail of his technique.

An intimate look at Andrew Wyeth
I discovered this book at my sister's home after I bought a print while visiting.The comments accompanying each print in the book provide an intimate look at Wyeth's life and art.It added a new dimension to my fondness for his work.I'd highly recommend this book to any admirer of Andrew Wyeth.

Wyeth in his own words
This isn't a linear autobiography, in the usual sense. Instead, it presents selections from Wyeth's entire life as a painter, from his mid-teens to his late seventies, when this book was published. Wyeth's own notes on each piece make it an autobiography.

This says less about the artist than about his artwork, which speaks for itself. His subdued palette captures the people and places of his life. Places include farms, barn or farmhouse interiors, Maine shorelines, and other open spaces that are increasingly hard to find. Wyeth's people include his wife Betsy, his sister, and neighbors. Grittier than Norman Rickwell but no less affetionate, he presents them at work, at hard-earned rest, or simply at a quiet moment. A few nudes of teenaged Siri, including the remarkable "The Virgin," capture the gawky grace of emerging womanhood. Two images really stood out for me, though, images I would never have associated with Wyeth. "Spring" and "Christmas morning" carry a surreal sense, somehow even closer the the supernatural for their entirely realistic rendering. "Spring," especially, offers an amiguous sense of hope using the starkest and bleakest of visual language.

As Wyeth narrates each painting, a sentence to a paragraph for each, parts of his life emerge: friendships, successes, and losses. Without being mysterious, the text comes across as spotty and selective, omitting far more than it presents. If you want a standard kind of biography, you'll have to look elsewhere. Instead, this book is closer to the occasional cup of coffee with the artist, shared over weeks or months, in which different moments of his life arise almost at random. His words add an intimacy to the art that's hard to express, but that is worth experiencing - as is the art itself.

-- wiredweird

Andrew Wyeth:Autobiography
I purchased this item as a gift for an artist friend, she was very happy with the quality of the reproductions in this book.
... Read more

Product Description
This book presents drawings that Andrew Wyeth retained for his own collection -- many preliminary to well-known paintings. Created over more than five decades, from 1951 to 2005, they range from portraits of family members and friends to vibrant depictions of objects, landscapes, and buildings in and around the artist's homes in Pennsylvania and Maine. These works reflect the insight, emotion, and technique that are uniquely his. They demonstrate Wyeth's extraordinary skill as a draftsman and the accuracy with which he sees light and dark, enabling him to model forms while suggesting the very substance and texture of what he sees.

"I have always been powerfully affected by Andrew Wyeth's drawings and studies -- particularly those studies that do not attempt to cover the whole surface of the paper but instead focus on a few elements, so that the image seems to emerge magically from the empty white background, rather like a photograph that we observe in the process of development." -- Henry Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Weak
This book is weak. the drawings themselves are amazing, but there should have been more drawings first of all, and secondly some of the ones that are in there are out of focus or fuzzy. Sad! Don't expect too much if you decide to buy this book. I would say its worth $5.

OK
The other person who mentioned that the pictures aren't great quality is right. Many of the pictures in this book are a little fuzzy and a couple are downright out of focus. I have a lot of Wyeth books and I've never been disappointed before this one.
That being said, it's Andy Wyeth so I'll take anything I can get. And there are a lot of drawings in here that I haven't seen before so I enjoyed it. Also the essay at the start about Wyeth's technique is worth reading, so I'm still glad I bought it.

disappointment
i love andrew wyeth's work and have several art books of his work.this is a lovely addition,but i wld much preferred to have had it in hardback. it was not clear that it wasn't in the description.i wld not have bought it if i had known

An Amazing Book!
If you are an Andrew Wyeth fan, you DO want to buy this book of drawings.(My scan gives you a fair idea -- sorry I could not push the page down further without breaking the binding.)The drawings ARE a revelation and are wonderful despite the flaws mentioned in a review above.I always wish that they would do better reproductions of Wyeth, so I accept what is offered and always find something interesting.You do get a good idea of his pencil style from this book, and of course the Henry Adams essay "Seven Secrets of Andrew Wyeth's Technique" is well worth reading.I give it 5 stars for what it IS -- another good addition to my Wyeth collection.

Could be and should have been a great book!

Really should have been a better book. Considering it comes from the museum practically in existence because of Andy.If you are used to repros such as those in the Helga book, or practically any of his other books (including the really old ones) those in this tome will utterly disappoint you. A great collection of drawings is here it should be said. The size of the book is the problem, but more so it is the photography of the art that is truly horrible. Several images are blurry, and no it was not the drawing itself, and no they did not rely on decades old photos. The photo credit for the book goes to someone who currently works at the museum and all of these images were in the show, available for shooting.

The text, while informative, is really with a little searching, redundant info offered else where in Hoving's books and easy to find articles on the internet.

Am not accusing them of trying to cash in, the book / catalog really should have had a more attentive eye trained on it during production. And for the money one would have to spend on it here, expectations should really be high. ... Read more

Product Description
"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.Amazon.com Review
AndrewWyeth's achievement is unmatched by other modern American realistpainters: he produced canvasses that became American icons, deepeningour sense of the possibilities of representational painting in anabstract age. This biography, produced by family friend RichardMeryman, who first wrote about Wyeth for Life magazine in 1964,takes in not only Andrew Wyeth's life but three generations of Wyeths:the peerless illustrator N. C. Wyeth,Andrew's father; Andrew Wyeth; and Jamie, Andrew's son and asuccessful realist painter in his own right. The "SecretLife" of the title refers in part, of course, to the"Helga" paintings, sketches, drawings, and portraits (manyof them in the nude) of Wyeth's neighbor, later his companion andassistant, Helga Testorf. The revelation of the "Helga"series gave the married Wyeth's life, at almost 70, a final dose ofdrama. This new biography, besides delving deeply into Wyeth'spersonal life, includes long discussions of almost every Wyeth canvas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Incredible insight into the Wyeth Mystique
I consider Andrew Wyeth to be one of the greatest American artists of all time and this book gives incredible insight into why. I have many books on Wyeth and this book is a "must read" to understanding this very complex man. WOW!

Highly readable, if a bit sycophantic...
This was a great read, really enjoyed the story of this complex, rather messed up person.

He's described as a classic case of Aspergers' Syndrome. I don't think that was a clinical description at the time, so it doesn't get called out specifically.

The writing is conversational, morbidly funny, dramatic, and fast paced. You certainly don't get bored. The life of the Wyeth family plays out like an epic operatic tragedy. There's some Jerry Springer level shenanigans inside this uptight east coast family.

The problem is, Wyeth comes off as just a little too genius, a little too saintly. It's just too easy the way it's described to fall in love with this heroic talent. I'd have liked it to be harder hitting. I was left wishing Wyeth *could* be as described, but somehow feeling it couldn't be true.

Nobody is that screwed up and that charismatic at the same time.Or has such pure motives. Anyway, still a great biography even if half of it is true.

Can Objects Become People?
There are many AW books that concentrate on paintings or eras of his art.This is a good overall view of the man and his life and art.It is good, but not a substitute for, the real experience of viewing the paintings and letting them sink into your own mind.For myself, listening to his matter-of-fact comments about various works and reading the author's summaries and paraphrases of aspects of his art or life are less interseting than what seems to be between the lines.AW is an artist who sees the human imprint on objects & places and gives them reverence in the form of observation as witness to their authenticity.Yipe.Just read the book

A great biography
This was a very interesting biography on Andrew Wyeth. I feel this book gave me insight intothe artist himself, his wife Betsy and the Wyeth family. This book made me feel familiar with Karl Kuerner, Karl's farm, Christina Olson, Ben Loper and many others which added so much to how I look at the paintings. I feel I see the paintings in a whole different way. I liked the fact that Andrew Wyeth painted his close friends, everyday people and those that we can relate to in our personal lives. I loved the book and am now half way through reading it again.

Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life
condition fine. Take some of the statements with a grain of salt.
Not always facctual ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

he made illustration art
one cannot review a master .......
I bought this (at a ridiculously low price) because I paint the nude figure.Wyeth's sense of space is legendary & in this he is also dealing with the nude.

very pleased
received book in time stated. book is in almost perfect condition. was pleased to get this quality considering price was so reasonable.

Helga
I recall when the paintings first came out and still am haunted by the images.I found this book online and received it in perfect condition at an unreal price.My wife loves the images and we both can relate to their story.

Everything I expected
I got my book very quickly and was really impressed with how well it was packaged. Much care had been taken to ensure it's safe delivery and pristine condition. I love the book and am very happy with the service.

Good job!
Book was delivered exactly in the time range specified at the beginning. Condition of the book was perfect. I'm satisfied. Thank you. ... Read more

Product Description
Examines the life and work of the popular American artist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

First Impressions: Andrew Wyeth (First Impressions)
again, take author's statements with a grain of salt
fine condition

The BIG Andrew Wyeth book
Yes, this is the BIG Andrew Wyeth book.Very good reproductions.You can tell how big this book really is by the less than half of the front cover I was able to get in the scan.All Wyeth lovers have to get this one, as it is the best of the lot simply by the size of the reproductions.Of course, Andrew Wyeth is so good that any print presents only the shadow of his genius.His originals are breathtaking -- to my mind Andy is the best American painter of the 20th. Century.Andrew Wyeth was born July 12, 1917, exactly 100 years after Henry David Thoreau.He will be 89 this summer. 2006.

andrew wyeth a secret life
50 years Bradford Cove has been our summer place. One has a sense of serenity when there and amazement of our natural beauty. I enjoyed the book and believe it to be the best on the wyeths. ... Read more

Product Description
Generally regarded by as "America's Painter," realist Andrew Wyeth is perhaps the most well know of the artistic Wyeth family dynasty which includes his father N. C. Wyeth, sister Henriette Hurd, and son Jamie Wyeth. Although most recent explorations of this artist have focused on his family and on the Helga pictures, this unique publication chronicles seven decades of an under-appreciated yet historically relevant aspect of his relationship to home and community. Andrew Wyeth: Close Friends is the first critical look at a significant body of paintings and works on paper depicting Wyeth's African-American friends and neighbors in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, a quaint village on the Brandywine River where he has lived since birth.

Beginning in the 1930s, many of Wyeth's African-American neighbors served as his models both in and out of the studio. Images of over 20 individuals are included, as well as depictions of their homes, farms, and meeting places. Wyeth's own words annotate the reproductions of his paintings and drawings and offer a rare glimpse into the mind of this truly individual artist. In her brief introduction, the artist's wife and collaborator, Betsy James Wyeth, recounts her arrival in Chadds Ford as a young bride and her immediate connection to the community she found there.

Andrew Wyeth: Close Friends includes over 100 color reproductions of major tempera and watercolor paintings and numerous black and white images of graphite drawings. Works reproduced are drawn from public and private collections, with a large number from the personal collection of the Wyeths. In addition to a foreword by museum director R. Andrew Maass, the book includes family photographs and facsimiles of personal correspondence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Very good condition
I found the book in a very good condition. I'm very happy with the purchase. I'd repeat with this dealer.

Very pleased customer
I have been unable to get my hands on this book.Ineeded to do research on a particular Andrew Wyeth print -the artist, the subject and the person selling thisprint.I was able to get all the information from the library and wanted a copy of this book to help explain a "note" from the artist on this print.The book arrived in a timely manner and was in good condition.I will now look to Amazon for future hard to find books.

A Great Andrew Wyeth Book
If you have nearly every Andrew Wyeth book and decided to skip this one, think again!I checked this out by looking at one at the public library and counted over 50 paintings and drawings not found in his other books.It is an absolute must buy for Wyeth fans.The thing that struck me most as an artist and photographer was the many way he found of posing his subjects.It is a textbook on portrait painting, and the reproductions are very good, as good as you are going to get with Wyeth.I find that I go back to this one time and again. ... Read more

Product Description
From a major international exhibition, this stunning book captures three generations of art by the Wyeth family. This comprehensive collection is now in a paperback identical to the original clothbound edition. 130 color, 54 black-and-white illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art is a fantastic addition to my library!
An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art; N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, James Wyeth is a fantastic addition to my library!I have always been fascinated by the Wyeth family's paintings and if you are too, then this would be a great book for you to have.It is a large format book and the paintings are reprinted on good paper.If you love the Wyeth's works and want to have a great way to look at them, then you should get a copy of this book!

...from ArtsyFartsy News, January2009
This book continues to leave me speechless and star struck. A few weeks ago I heard the news... Andrew Wyeth had just died. A sad day for me. I felt a connection to the Wyeths and their long history of making paintings. The Pennsylvania barns and landscape scenes Andrew painted were where I grew up. James was briefly in my college painting class and N.C. Wyeth's paintings visually entertained me while I was a young reader of the classics.

N.C.'s paintings mesmerized me throughout my childhood and were my first awareness that one could actually have a job doing illustrations for advertisements. I was hooked.

Today, looking through this wondrous book, I continue to study the three generations of painters - N.C.'s strong graphic compositions and visual imagination; Andrew's commitment and self disciplined approach is inspiring and James' dedication to the family name, yet going off the path in search of his generation makes me proud I am a painter.

This book, chockfull of paintings, is visual joy, full of nostalgia and more strikingly, not affected by any contemporary movement in the arts. The Wyeth family stands alone.

Get this book!

A Fine Catalog of the Wyeth Family in America Reappears
In 1987 there was a traveling exhibition, AN AMERICAN VISION: THREE GENERATIONS OF WYETH ART, that was accompanied by a beautiful hardcover book by the same name. Fortunate for art lovers that catalog, having passed through a paperback phase, is once again appearing on the shelves of book stores and museums. It is a treasure worth seeking.Presented with a fine overview by James H. Duff the book follows the lives and influences and works by the three Wyeths:N.C. Wyeth, 1882 - 1945, is introduced by his son Andrew; Andrew Wyeth (born 1917) is introduced by Thomas Hoving; James Wyeth (born 1946) is introduced by Lincoln Kirsten who not only brings the reader up to date with Wyeth the Younger, but also provides insights to the durability of the Wyeth tradition and influence on American art.

Some may have once dismissed the three Wyeths as minor artists and major illustrators, but today's critics share a growing appreciation for their output, both individually and as a family of unique thought.NC Wyeth's works were more devoted to historic adventure paintings and his works were often used in books as illustrations for tales of adventure.Andrew Wyeth captured the mood of an America losing contact with the simplicity of her roots and his simple, unfettered landscapes and portraits continue to be hallmarks of a simpler time, a period when the poetry of Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams and the music of Aaron Copeland definedthe quiet frontier vision too often forgotten in the smoke of industry and the clangor of technology.James (or Jamie) Wyeth's approach to nature and her animals and to the rugged individualism of the people who populate New England continue to celebrate the customs and concepts of a neglected America continue to grow: many feel his current work is his strongest.

The book is filled with full color plates of the paintings and drawings of all three of the Wyeth clan and moving through the pages is not unlike strolling the museums where this exhibition traveled throughout the USA and in Russia, England and Japan.It is a book of revelations about the three artists and an homage to a family talent that persists.Very highly recommended: look for it now!Grady Harp, December 07

Awesome
This is a fascinating book - about all three artists and also a study of artistic ability and creativity running through the family.I bought it years after enjoying the exhibition and have also given it to other art lovers.What the artists have to say about each other is interesting and the reproductions are beautiful.Don't miss this - it will only enhance your appreciation every time you encounter a Wyeth! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Masterful craft
This collection of essays, edited by Wanda Corn, covers a lot of territory. It includes background material, a lengthy section on his painstaking technique, and an interview. That's not why I came. I first saw his Helga pictures, none of which are presented here, but they were enough to get me hooked.

The selection of works appeals to both the enthusiast and the novice. For the latter, there's the sentimental "Faraway" (p.82), baffling "Chambered Nautilus" (p.87), and familiar "Christina's World" (p.39). Those are enough to entice a reader into spending time on pieces no less beautiful(p.37), even if the beauty is less apparent to the first, and maybe second and third examination.

Having seen the work, I have to ask how it was made. That's at least as remarkable, since Wyeth tended towards demanding media. A lot of his work is watercolor, one of the less forgiving media. Then, within watercolor, a lot of his work is done with dry brush technique, which is even more unforgiving. It is, however, the technique that Beatrice Potter used in her photo-realistic scientific studies and children's books. The most impressive, however, is Wyeth'sbody of work done in egg tempera. I've never worked in that medium, and probably never will. It demands even more of the artist, since the paint is essentially made in the moment that it's used, and makes nearly every flaw irreparable. In compensation, though, it offers good permanence, more chance for overpainting, and the highest potential for precision. I can barely imagine the technical skill and singled-minded devotion that Wyeth applied to some of these pieces.

I promised something for the serious student, though, and samples pervade this book. I got the most out of seeing his sketches next to the finished pieces. Others, though, might prefer the photos of scenes he had painted, or the biographical notes, or the scholarship of the writers. The profuse examples of Wyeth's work, however, mean that it can't become dry. I recommend this to anyone who like's Andrew Wyeth's work, or could learn to - and that's just about everyone.

-- wiredweird

Masterful craft
This collection of essays, edited by Wanda Corn, covers a lot of territory. It includes background material, including a lengthy section on his painstaking technique, and an interview. That's not why I came. I first saw his Helga pictures, none of which are presented here., but they were enough to get me hooked.

The selection of works appeals to both the enthusiast and the novice. For the latter, there's the sentimental "Faraway" (p.82), baffling "Chambered Nautilus" (p.87), and familiar "Christina's World" (p.39). Those are enough to entice a reader into spending time on pieces no less beautiful(p.37), even if the beauty is less apparent to the first, and maybe second and third examination.

Having seen the work, I have to ask how it was made. That's at least as remarkable, since Wyeth tended towards demanding media. A lot of his work is watercolor, one of the less forgiving media. Then, within watercolor, a lot of his work is done with dry brush techniquue, which is even more unforgiving. It is, however, the technique that Beatrice Potter used in her photo-realistic scientific studies and children's books. The most impressive, however, is the body of work done in egg tempera. I've never worked in that medium, and probably never will. It demands even more of the artist, since the paint is essentially made in the moment that it's used, and makes every flaw irreparable. In compensation, though, it offers good permanence, more chance for overpainting, and the highest potential for precision. I can barely imagine the technical skill and singled-minded devotion that Wyeth applied to some of these pieces.

I promised something for the serious student, though, and samples pervade this book. I got the most out of seeing his sketches next to the finished pieces. Others, though, might prefer the photos of scenes he had painted, or the biographical notes, or the scholarship of the writers. The profuse examples of Wyeth's work, however, mean that it can't become dry. I recommend this to anyone who like's Andrew Wyeth's work, or could learn to - and that's just about everyone.


//wiredweird

Masterful craft
This collection of essays, edited by Wanda Corn, covers a lot of territory. It includes background material, a lengthy section on his painstaking technique, and an interview. That's not why I came. I first saw his Helga pictures, none of which are presented here, but they were enough to get me hooked.

The selection of works appeals to both the enthusiast and the novice. For the latter, there's the sentimental "Faraway" (p.82), baffling "Chambered Nautilus" (p.87), and familiar "Christina's World" (p.39). Those are enough to entice a reader into spending time on pieces no less beautiful(p.37), even if the beauty is less apparent to the first, and maybe second and third examination.

Having seen the work, I have to ask how it was made. That's at least as remarkable, since Wyeth tended towards demanding media. A lot of his work is watercolor, one of the less forgiving media. Then, within watercolor, a lot of his work is done with dry brush technique, which is even more unforgiving. It is, however, the technique that Beatrice Potter used in her photo-realistic scientific studies and children's books. The most impressive, however, is Wyeth'sbody of work done in egg tempera. I've never worked in that medium, and probably never will. It demands even more of the artist, since the paint is essentially made in the moment that it's used, and makes nearly every flaw irreparable. In compensation, though, it offers good permanence, more chance for overpainting, and the highest potential for precision. I can barely imagine the technical skill and singled-minded devotion that Wyeth applied to some of these pieces.

I promised something for the serious student, though, and samples pervade this book. I got the most out of seeing his sketches next to the finished pieces. Others, though, might prefer the photos of scenes he had painted, or the biographical notes, or the scholarship of the writers. The profuse examples of Wyeth's work, however, mean that it can't become dry. I recommend this to anyone who like's Andrew Wyeth's work, or could learn to - and that's just about everyone.

//wiredweird

Early Essays
Sure there are much better reproductions of these Wyeth paintings out there, but if you have not purchased this book of 1973 essays do it now for a real treat.Sure everyone is waiting for the catalog raisone, but while you are waiting take a trip into the past with:
A Visit to Wyeth Country by Brian O'Doherty
Andrew Wyeth Interview by Richard Meryman
Andrew Wyeth's Painting Techniques by E.P. Richardson
The Art of Andrew Wyeth by Wanda M. Corn
Sure I bought all the good books first and passed this one over, but at the price it is selling today I'd really recommend these essays to you.Some of us can never get enough Wyeth, and this is good stuff.
4 stars for the reproductions.The text is 5 stars all the way. ... Read more

Product Description
Hardcover yellow boards, gilt title on spine with white illustrated dust jacket, pink title. 282 pp. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

like new
At almost half the original price this book arrived in almost new condition. The seller even enclosed a newspaper artice from a 1986 LA Times review of Wyeth. My thanks to the seller for so carefully packaging this treasure. I'd grown up admiring the "Christina's World" painting, and after having visited the Olsen House, the book was a must.I feel I have the "set" now- in addition to "Kuerners" and "Andrew Wyeth".These were beautiful books when they originally were published, priceless treasures now to admirers of Andrew Wyeth.Thank you Betsy for saving his art.

Another Great Wyeth Book
This book is the same size as the Wyeth At Kuerner's book and just as good.Indeed, it is the companion volume according to the back flyleaf.There are 105 pre-studies, 128 four-color illustrations and 28 photographs.Of course, it is about the most famous painting in this century by an American artist, but also includes all of the work Andrew did out at the Olson farm indoors and out.One really has to appreciate these fine books that show the stages of a great artist's work.There is really nothing else quite like them. ... Read more

Product Description
315 illustrations authored by his wife. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Wyeth Book
The seller represented the book very well and it was in better condition than expected.Very fast shipping and well packaged.Would highly recommend this seller.

Can't go wrong with an Andrew Wyeth book.
It is a great book, a classic!
A lot of drawings and quick sketches by Wyeth,
which allow you to see his working process.
A true Pennsylvania hero.

Follow the sketches to finished painting
When I visited the Brandywine Museum in Chads Ford, PA, I took the tour to
visit the Kuerner Farm. I actually saw the places shown in this book. It is
amazing to see Andrew Wyeth's development from sketch to finished painting.
Our local library has this as a reference book which can not be checked out.
I was delighted to find a copy on Amazon. Andrew Wyeth is trulyan Ameriacn
treasure. This book focuses on a huge segment of his journey.

One of the Wonderful Wyeth Books
This is one of the wonderful Wyeth books.As difficult as it is to reproduce Andrew Wyeth's masterly paintings and drawings (a truly impossible job) this large volume gives one at least a taste of his genius.It is like going out on his artistic journeys with him sketchbook in hand.You get to see masterworks from the first pencil drawings to the finished product.I am amazed that you can pick this one up at such a low price these days, but maybe everyone who loves Wyeth already has this book.I paid $50 for a copy and thought I was fortunate.It is a must buy book for every serious watercolorist.Wyeth opens your eyes to the world.

From an illustrators perspective.
Stunning egg tempura illustrations by one of America's finest.Wyeth gives us a peek of his train of thought by including many preliminary sketches.A must have for the master and the apprentice of the arts. ... Read more

Product Description
Andrew Wyeth is considered America's most popular living painter. This book reveals the artist's love of painting as process and material, underscores his technical prowess and examines the abstract modernist underpinnings of his landscape compositions.Amazon.com Review
Unknown Terrain: The Landscapes of Andrew Wyeth makesan irresistible case for ignoring both Wyeth's sentimental championsand his cynical detractors. It's easy to understand either pole ofopinion about this very American painter, but harder to get to theessence of what makes him excite such vehemence. In the end, it maysimply be that he is very, very good, and like all good painters, alittle too complicated for most critics.

For one thing, while Wyeth does have a special sensitivity forsuggestive narrative elements, he is also an abstract painter, with apowerful sense of gesture, stroke, and pattern. Some of hiswatercolors are as thrusting and liquid as Jackson Pollock's drips,and almost as nonobjective. Other compositions can be as fixed asChristina's World, the huge 1948 painting for which he isperhaps best known, but within the strictly ordered confines oftempera, a painstaking medium, he still handles the brush withbravura. The authors of Unknown Terrain make an attempt toelucidate Wyeth's relationship to this century, and they succeedadmirably--with the help of nearly 200 reproductions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

One of the Best Wyeth books
I just want to add the comment that this has been one of the most useful books in my library to me for studying watercolors.I see the price has really held up on this one.I picked it up when it was a remainder, and it has only increased in value over the years.

A comprehsive coverage
Published to accompany the exhibition "Unknown Territory: The Landscape of Andrew Wyeth" organised by the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1998, following the introduction two essays discusses the critical appraisal of the artist, his approach to his work and his painting methods; the easy are illustrated throughout in colour and black and white. The catalogue of work runs from pages 51 to 199. The book concludes with a further essay which includes a number of comments by the artist. There is also a list of works included in the exhibition but no bibliography.

In total there are approaching 200 illustrations, with the vast majority being in full colour, although the restrained nature of Wyeth's palette does not make this immediately apparent even in the main section of plates. The landscape format of the book accommodates well the predominantly similarly proportioned paintings and drawings, however sometimes the image is reproduced rather small relative to the page size.

A very useful publication which well demonstrates the range of the artist's output even with the designation of landscape.

A Happy Purchase
The staff of the Whitney Museum for a 1998 Wyeth exhibition compiled this beautifully printed and bound book.The stock is heavy and glossy and the colors sharp and clear.Many watercolors included have not been publicly seen for years, as many private collectors contributed their paintings for this exhibition.The dates of the compositions range from the early 30's through the late 90's.

The two most recognized American artists of the 20th Century are Andys-Wyeth and Warhol, and they have more in common than their initials.Both are controversial and neither is as "realistic" as accused and/or categorized.

My enjoyment of Andrew Wyeth was never diminished by the fact that I had a lot of company.Popularity does not necessarily mean inferiority in spite of what the self-consuming art world tells us.True, you have to have a certain fondness for bleak settings to properly take pleasure in most of the paintings.I often idly wondered if Wyeth ever painted landscapes in spring or summer and why he was so enamored of bare earth and beige and brown compositions.I have never seen as many abstracts as are contained in this book.

The essays in the book are interesting, but not so prevalent as to overshadow the marvelous prints.My only complaint is the book is an unhandy shape, longer than it is tall, making it difficult to shelve.However, this is minor.Many hours of viewing pleasure are in store.

What the text says, or what you see?
When you view the work of an artist, who is to be the arbiter of what, inthis case the painting is about, what it means? Do you turn to theProfessional Art Critic, Art History Majors, you the viewer, or the man orwoman who created the work? In this case the Artist is well and painting,and his thoughts about his work are many and well documented.

This bookon the paintings of Andrew Wyeth focuses primarily on the media ofwatercolor and drybrush as opposed to the egg tempera paintings that arethe medium for so many of his most famous works. Mr. Wyeth takes up to 6months for a tempera work, and completes as few as 2-4 a year. The imagesin this book are produced by the hundreds, and over his career amount toliterally thousands of images. This book discusses and publishes manyimages that have never been publicly shown, and uses this body of work toadvance various ideas.

The book is a valuable addition to those who areadmirers of his work, the opinions that are expressed by people other thanthe artist, are either critical to the book on one extreme, or mostlyridiculous from where I sit.

Andrew Wyeth has been a target for theself-proclaimed tastemakers of Art for one reason; his art is widelyadmired, collected, and highly valued. These elements automatically qualifyhim for criticism that is so absurd; it adds a comedic aspect to the text.Then there are those who do love his work but feel they must demonstratethat, yes, he is what the critics say he is not, and even more!

The textdid help me understand more about the method by which Mr. Wyeth createsthese works, and the role they sometimes play in a major tempera piece. Iloved his work before this book, and will continue to regardless of what"they" have to say. The only individual whose comments matter are Mr.Wyeth's. His thoughts are documented; I don't see the need for others topresume they know better than he what he paints, and what his intent waswhen he created the work.

The book is great for the new images it bringsto the public. Everything about the construction of the book is as good asyou will find in a commercial publication, and the color plates areexcellent. As to the text, that is left for you to decide, I am placing thestars above for the Artist and his work, not for what others have to sayabout it.

Beautiful watercolors!
A collection containing a number of stunning watercolors loosely executed, rarely included in a book of Wyeth's works. Also includes many of his more labored tempera paintings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Staggering Reproductions
This oversize out-of-print book is a must for Wyeth fans and collectors of fine art publications.The reproductions are the finest I have seen in any Wyeth art books, and perhaps the finest I've come across in any art publication.To quote from the dust jacket, "the paintings to be reproduced (almost the entire body of his major work [in 1968]) were photograghed directly from the originals .... Those paintings most difficult to reproduce, about half of them, were then reproduced directly from the photographic negative by screenless collotype - the most accurate of reproduction processes.Each picture was proofed, corrected, and proofed again until it satisfied the artist.So that the pressman might have the near equivalent of the original painting before him these prints were then used as guides for the regular run of the work, which was done only six pictures at a time on an intaglio press over a period of more than eight months.Next to the collotype process itself, which calls for painstaking impressions made from sheets of aluminum, intaglio prinitng is most suited to the reproduction of fine works of art by reason of its free-flowing ink and consequent depth of impression. The intaglio plates were proofed, corrected from the collotype impressions, and proofed again until they, too, were satisfactory.Only then was the full edition run. The binding of so large a book presented a unique problem requiring the setting up of special machinery and much careful handwork.No comparable effort on so large a scale in the field of fine printing has been made in this country."The results are staggering and are the closest I have ever seen in approaching the originals.Printed on non-glossy fine paper there is such detail that one can use a magnifying glass!Before purchasing, inquire in depth regarding the condition of the binding, as this is a big book and even though a special effort was made in production, the many years since publication can take a toll. ... Read more

Product Description
Softcover catalogue for exhibition profusely illustrated with hundreds of b/w and color reproductions of Wyeth works. A window into the mind (and world) of Andrew Wyeth, and the two places that inspired him. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Wyeth: from sketch to completion, insightful and informative
If you want a better understanding of Wyeth's artistic process, this book is definitely for you. Wyeth's thoughtful and informative insights into the creation of his art are the reason this book is important. Despite Hoving's fawning and questions that lack depth, the book is a marvelous look at this artist's approach to a variety subjects. Wyeth explains with passion and depth why he chose different scenes, the gradual evolution of his concepts, and the reason a particular medium (watercolor, drybrush, tempera, etc.) was chosen to complete the work.
Focusing on his work in Maine and Pennsylvania, Wyeth takes you through his process from first conceptual sketches to finished work, clearly relating his process to the reader in a concise and revealing manner. The emphasis here is on the art, with a wide variety of work discussed and displayed. The one flaw was the book could easily have been edited to eliminate the questions and allow Wyeth to ruminate unencumbered by the clumsiness of these interruptions.

the basic Wyeth companion
I found this book at friends' at least fifteen years ago, then I immediately ordered several other copies from the Metropolitan Museum in order to give them to the people I loved most. It introduced me to AW(unfortunately almost unknown in Europe) and to his unique vision as acontemporary painter, which reminded me of the same kind of emotion I hadsome time before, by viewing Terrence Malick's first two films : Bad Lands& Days of Heaven... A major book on a major artist in Magic Realism,who is a poet aswell, and a philosopher--not to mention the wonderfulperson to be discovered by reading this basic companion titled : Two Worldsof Andrew Wyeth. ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers readers a walk through the physical, visible world of AndrewWyeth's paintings and a guide, in the words of Henry David Thoreau, into the interior world. 69 full-color plates and 8 black-and-white illustrations. (128 pp.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Thoreau quotes and southeastern Pennsylvania photographs
Writer-naturalist Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) and artist Andrew Wyeth (1917-) not only share a birthday: they were born exactly 100 years apart.Thoreau had the town of Concord and the Concord River to inspire him.Andrew Wyeth has Chadds Ford and the Brandywine River.This large coffee table book places quotes from Thoreau against -- not Wyeth artwork -- but photographs of the Brandywine area taken by James A. Warner and Margaret J. White.Some of the sites depicted also appear in Wyeth's work, and eight pieces of his own are actually reproduced here.The photos are lovely and the quotes are nice enough.Thoreau's words are printed in all caps, making them appear to shout from the page.It's kind of an odd combination of text and images:loud sentences and bucolic rural scenery. This book may appeal to Wyeth fans or to natives of southeastern Pennsylvania. ... Read more

Product Description
Wyeth People is the story of one writer’s search for the meaning of artistic creativity, approached from personal contact with the work of one of the world’s great artists, Andrew Wyeth.In the 1960s, just beginning his career as a writer, Gene Logsdon read a magazine article about Andrew Wyeth in which the artist commented at length on his own creative impulse. What he said seemed so true and right and so directly applicable to writing as well as to painting that the young writer was transfixed.He was resolved to talk to Andrew Wyeth, even though warned that the artist could be as elusive as a wild rabbit. Not quite by accident, the writer and the painter met in a roadside diner, and what happened from then on is what Wyeth People is about—an effort to explain a famous artist, his work, and the people who love it, by an intrigued outsider.Wyeth People is the result of Gene Logsdon’s search to find the colorful people Wyeth painted and to interview them. Originally published in 1969, Wyeth People describes how the author solved the mystery of the creative impulse, at least to his own satisfaction. It is reprinted here in paperback for the first time.As Logsdon writes: “The story of my search for why I (and millions of other people) find Wyeth’s art among the greatest that human culture has produced, is ongoing. I may never fully end my quest. But this I know. I was lucky enough to have participated in some small way in the cultural process by which an artist and his work became a classic part of American tradition." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Wyeth fan
I am a HUGE Wyeth fan. It was an interesting angle, one at first I was afraid was bordering on "stalking" but then I got it. Trying to know the path he was walking without intruding was difficult, but made the man more human for me. I enjoyed the read.

Wyeth People--Honest, Original, and Groundbreaking
I'm in the middle of a Wyeth vs. Hopper research project that takes the better part of a year.While this book was not particularly helpful to my research, it opened me up a bit.This book makes Wyeth's work more real and personal.Truly, one cannot begin to speculate on the master's work before reading this book and understanding who he paints.

This book is not full of critical analysis of his paintings and does not include page after page of color prints we've all seen before.Nor does this act as a biography.Rather this book is groundbreaking in that it examines him through his subjects, in a way.Logsdon spent quite a bit of time in both Pennsylvania and Maine interviewing friends, relatives, acquaintances, and anyone with a connect to Wyeth.One gets an inside look at the characters Wyeth portrayed in The Patriot, The Drifter, and many other portraits.This is a treasure-trove of information that has since been lost as many of Wyeth's subjects have passed on.

This well-written, quick book is for any who could brand themselves a member of "Wyeth People." ... Read more