Andrew Wyeth

After graduation from high school, I remember that one of the first art books I received from a friend was on the artwork of Andrew Wyeth (which had little on his life). Like many of my friends who accumulate books, I know I still have it, but it's probably buried under some stack of art books.

My interest in Andrew Wyeth was recently renewed while visiting an art museum that had some of his work, along with famous father's (N.C.). It was one of those trips I took with my best friend Tom (you know . . . the one who gets excited about museum cafes). He didn't go with me to the museum, though (he wasn't hungry).

When I checked out Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life by Richard Meryman (759.13 WYE in the biography section), I got more than I had anticipated.

The first painting discussed is Wyeth's pivotal "Christina's World." It's a very strange image: an expansive landscape of grass with a woman lying in the foreground who's pulling herself toward the desolate buildings in the the distance. This is how the author introduces the readers to the life of Wyeth - through Christina Olson's world.

Christina was a stubborn woman who had a crippling disease. She saw her father's health decline and spend several years in a wheelchair. She told herself she would be as self-sufficient as possible without the wheelchair. Andrew Wyeth actually painted her as she was, crawling with just her two arms back to her house. Andrew had an immense attraction to her way of life, a life most would never want to live.

Meryman does a really good job of giving the background story on many of Wyeth's most famous pieces. If I thought Wyeth's paintings were powerful before, I'm even more in awe after reading about his subjects and how his paintings evolved.

Now if I could only remember which pile has my own book was in . . .

c Waterloo Public Library 2008