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Autobiography

4.58 of 5 stars 4.58 · rating details · 133 ratings · 18 reviews
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.
Paperback , 168 pages
Published September 15th 1998 by Bulfinch (first published September 15th 1995)
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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 226)
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Gloria
Yes, Andrew Wyeth is one of my favorite artists. And this book is stunning. Making it all the more fascinating are his personal notes accompanying each sketch and painting, outlining the history of the composition or model.
Could I afford it, I'd have his work hanging all about my house.
CD
I first saw the earlier version on friends desk about 10 years ago and it re-kindled my interest in Wyeth. The 'Helga' pictures of course had brought him back to a certain degree of prominence after decades of almost obscurity outside of collectors and museum goers.

My first interest in him went to seeing a variety of his works as a teenager and knowing two different families who owned Wyeth's and learning a lot about the tempura method he used. Having seen works up close and being privileged to
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Carol
This is one book I must purchase. Excellent artworks (variety of mediums) but most importantly is Andrew Wyeth's personal interpretations of why, where and what inspired him to create these beautiful scenes of everyday people in everyday life living off the land. I highly recommend it.
Kevin
It's mostly a picture book, but as I was glazing over it at Borders, I was so drawn by this one painting that I ended up spending $30 for the entire book which I did not intend to do.
Adam
I'm not a fan of the countryside. To me it's a place that represents death and dying, particularly in summer, and so stay away from art that captures that idea. Wyeth is however, different. He captures for me the brooding, loneliness of the field, the corruption in the soil, the bleakness of the land, but in such a way that he makes it beautiful. To step into his world is to find a peace and a sanctuary in nature. An in depth look at this artist's works, with biographical notes that enhance each ...more
Kristen
Thanks to J. because without Goodreads I would not have picked this up. I traditionally avoid art and poetry, but thought this might be a good one to break with tradition. It was. The rules surrounding good and bad art confuse me. I'm always afraid of being the person who likes Thomas Kinkade and then later discovers that he's a really bad artist, according to a fair number. (I don't actually love that guy's work, by the way).

I learned more than I thought I would about the way that at least one
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GoldGato
Magnificence. Instead of getting a wordy autobiography, Wyeth gives us his paintings and provides the reasoning and associated memories with each work of art. Now, that's a true biography. Thus we see the artist as the artist, not as a biographer wants to be seen.

Wyeth was a Regional Realist and very East Coast American, which also comes across in his descriptions. The reader can look at The Cider Barrel , for instance, and discover that good cider needs to be kept filled to the brim. If that inf
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Rustam
It's not really an autobiography. It's generally just a paragraph or two written by Wyeth about each print in this "book" of selected prints across his career. This should be a good start at increasing my collection of books that are cool to "look" at. Wyeth's understated sensibility and earthy demeanor make for good narrative of the prints. I must have reached the next stage of life, because I can finally afford art books. ;)
Joseph
One of my favorite artists, this book highlights the universally american images of Wyeth. Though I am a Californian and know little to nothing of the Maine landscape portrayed by Wyeth in his art, the paintings still speak to me as examples of that archetypal american Nature that all of us heirs of emerson and thoreau know and love.
Wes Young
What I like about this is that not only is it a solid selection of Wyeth's (potentially) lesser known works, but it also has his own 'critiques' of the works, and not some upity critic telling you what to feel or see. His blurbs are more like history lessons or technique instruction. Fascinating.
Audrey Babkirk Wellons
Sometimes I find that what is written about art can be as beautiful as the art itself; that’s the case with this book. It’s mostly large-format color prints of Wyeth’s worth, with his reflections or recollections alongside them. Perfect rainy day reading.
Katy
Basically a retrospective created for a particular showing, where Wyeth himself talks about the individual pieces. Interesting to gain some insight into his technique/inspirations and am just wowed by the precise detail in some of his pieces.
Kim
This little book is a great intro to Wyeth if you don't know his work. I like the quirky blurbs he offers as his autobiography, though the images speak volumes themselves.
Jo Klemm
I'm really loving this. It is full page paintings with short discussion about why and how he painted it. He has a lovely, down-to-earth voice.
Angie
Beautiful book to look and as well as enjoyable to read. The artist's comments on his own work are insightful and surprising humorous.
Charlene
A unique, remarkable autobiographical tale of Andrew Wyeth as he takes you into the depths of his paintings that mirror his life.
Cara
Sep 10, 2008 Cara rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: Art lovers
If you love American realist painters you can't get any better than Andrew Wyeth. He is my favorite artist- I can lose myself looking at his work.
Becky
Becky marked it as to-read
Sep 11, 2015
Sls
Sls marked it as to-read
Aug 10, 2015
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Farewell Andrew Wyeth! 1 8 Jan 16, 2009 12:38PM
  • Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life
  • The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites
  • Jackson Pollock: An American Saga
  • The Voices of Silence: Man and His Art. (Abridged from the Psychology of Art)
  • Chagall
  • Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement
  • Inside the Painter's Studio
  • Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle
  • Nothing If Not Critical: Selected Essays on Art and Artists
  • Arrogance
  • Icon
  • Jasper Johns
  • Classical Painting Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice
  • John Singer Sargent
  • Charles Harper's Birds and Words
  • Impressionists
  • Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock
  • Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera
The Helga Pictures Wyeth at Kuerners Two Worlds of Andrew Wyeth: A Conversation with Andrew Wyeth Looking Out, Looking In Temperas, Watercolors, Dry Brush, Drawings 1938 Into 1966

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