Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life

Fascinating Character

For ten years I lived a short distance from Andrew and Betsy Wyeth in Chadds Ford, PA and heard many rumors about the subjects of his art, particularly Helga. The book cast a different light on what was going on as he studied and painted his neighbors and friends and I so enjoyed the references to the Brandywine River Valley. I loved visiting the Brandywine River Museum and seeing the art work of N.C., Andrew and Jamie so Andrew Wyeth by Richard Meryman is a publication of memories for me as well as facts one would never know about the man.

This book is well written and one I could not put down until completed. For readers who have no knowledge of the artist but have seen a smattering of his work, I highly recommend this fascinating story.

This book

Best Wyeth read there is....

We all know Wyeth's art...but what is it like to BE Wyeth? That's the question this book answers. Have read this book 4 or 5 times over the years. The best look inside his personal life, painting practices & methods there is. If you want to really see a real story of the true 'temperamental artist', this is it! The best book I have ever read about life as an artist....I think I admire that even more than his art itself.

A Secret

What an artist, what a man. Wyeth's art has been in a secret corner of my mind since I can remember. He has influenced my own art from the time I began drawing until this very day. I remember picking up a book about Wyeth in my junior high school art class and thinking: so this is his name. Truly, one of the finest American painters of our time. He made an impression on my mind as he seeped into my consciousness and the American consciousness about the quality of the aesthetic. He painted images from my own memories; bare trees, winter weighted grasses pressed to the earth with rotten snow, heavy skies gray with moisture, and the light playing on saturated trunks of trees creating an illumination for the branches. Even today when I see these things I think Wyeth. A great biography that brought a greater understanding of the artist and his life. I applaud the devotion to the life of art that he lives.

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