From Library Journal
Here, the legendary American realist painter looks back at six decades of his work. This comprehensive retrospective that originated in Japan and is now on view in Kansas City, Missouri, includes both famous and recent paintings. An artistic independent, Wyeth pictures a different view of reality than does, say, Norman Rockwell. Thomas Hoving introduces the book and observes that Wyeth "has always painted for himself." Thus, Wyeth's comments on the origins and events of each painting are of particular interest. The quality of the printing is very good, avoiding the pitfalls of too much high contrast and loss of shadow detail in the pictures. But best of all are the stories Wyeth tells. Sure to appeal to both general and informed readers, this is recommended for the autobiography and art collections of public and academic libraries.?Andy Murphy, Charleston P.L., S.C.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The most popular and the most accomplished twentieth-century American realist painter after Edward Hopper serves up as his autobiography not a prose narrative but an exhibition of his work that spans his entire career, from an oil of a man plowing his fields that was painted when the artist was 16 (in 1933) to a 1993 watercolor of a whale's rib lying on a Maine island shore. One hundred thirty-seven artworks in all appear, and for each one, Wyeth offers a note about its subject, the circumstances that spurred him to paint or draw it, and the feelings, values, and experiences he associates with it. The notes vary greatly in length; some fill most of a page, while others are only a sentence or two. They are frank, concrete, and personal, and Wyeth admirers may find them almost as worthwhile as the splendid gallery of his work that they accompany. Ray Olson

FROM OUR EDITORS

Andrew Wyeth tells the story of his life through his paintings. By discussing in interviews with Thomas Hoving the circumstances in which each of 138 works was created, a picture of a life driven by the obsession to paint is revealed. Published to accompany an exhibition of Wyeth's work that originated in Japan before traveling to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, this first volume in a series is the most comprehensive survey of the artist's ongoing career to date.

ANNOTATION

This lavish volume reproduces 138 tempera, drybrush, and watercolor paintings by Wyeth--the most comprehensive retrospective of the artist's work ever produced. But what makes this book truly extraordinary are Wyeth's comments about each painting--an autobiography, told through interviews with Hoving, that offers fascinating facts about Wyeth's life and art.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A dazzling look back at six decades of paintings by America's favorite artist, this is the crowning book of Andrew Wyeth's career. This comprehensive survey reproduces 133 tempera, drybrush, and watercolor paintings and five pencil sketches - the only true retrospective of the artist's work ever published. But what makes this book truly extraordinary are Wyeth's comments about each painting - an "autobiography," told through conversations with Thomas Hoving - which offer fascinating, sometimes unexpected facts about Wyeth's life and art. Based on a retrospective exhibition that originated in Japan and travels to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Andrew Wyeth: Autobiography includes many seminal paintings from both his Chadds Ford and Maine work - including Distant Thunder, Garret Room, and several paintings of Helga - as well as recent work from the 1990s and some rarely seen images. As Thomas Hoving writes in his introduction, "Wyeth, in essence, has always painted for himself." This beautifully printed, elegantly designed book reveals that self as no other collection has done before.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal