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Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life – The Definitive Biography Revealing the Turbulent Obsession Behind an Iconic American Realist Painter
"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 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 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.
- 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 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 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.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1900
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
October 22, 2012
What is art?
I don't claim to be any sort of expert. I am not gifted in that realm of visual arts. But I find that, like writing, it tends to be very subjective.
What speaks to one person will not necessarily appeal to another.
What I do know is Andrew Wyeth has always appealed to me. I've always understood the starkness of his landscapes, the loud yet subtle emotion of his simplicity ... the expressions of his models.
This book scratched an itch in that I always long to know more about who creates the things I love.
To read the history of Wyeth-- his topsy-turvy childhood with an exacting, demanding, artist father. His equally somewhat tumultuous marriage (which still endured).
To learn the stories behind the drawings, the paintings. Things which make you look at them afresh with an insider's knowledge.
But more than that, I've so often wondered what it would be like to be the muse.
I was in high school when the "Helga story" broke in the press. These hidden, secret paintings and drawings Wyeth had been hiding from everyone (including his wife) for 15 years.
It intrigued me. What would it be like to sit for such an artist?
This book fulfilled much of that curiosity. An authorized biography (Wyeth only and ever wanted Meryman to write his story), it delved into the details surrounding not only Wyeth, but his myriad of models as well (including Helga).
To read this:
But all was not excitement and happiness and fulfillment. Helga, herself, succumbed to a deep depression after her artistic endeavors with Wyeth were over. The publicity was brutal for her and her family.
Another of Wyeth's models explains:
A double-edged sword.
The fulfillment and nourishment of one's artistic soul being recognized as a muse.
The abandonment in the aftermath.
And yet, even Helga admitted, "I've never done anything more worthwhile."
An intriguing, thought-provoking look at what it means to be an artist, to be a muse, and to wonder at one's own life and sense of fulfillment.
It left me sated in my quest for more information ... and unsettled in my wonderings about such an experience.
I don't claim to be any sort of expert. I am not gifted in that realm of visual arts. But I find that, like writing, it tends to be very subjective.
What speaks to one person will not necessarily appeal to another.
What I do know is Andrew Wyeth has always appealed to me. I've always understood the starkness of his landscapes, the loud yet subtle emotion of his simplicity ... the expressions of his models.
This book scratched an itch in that I always long to know more about who creates the things I love.
To read the history of Wyeth-- his topsy-turvy childhood with an exacting, demanding, artist father. His equally somewhat tumultuous marriage (which still endured).
To learn the stories behind the drawings, the paintings. Things which make you look at them afresh with an insider's knowledge.
But more than that, I've so often wondered what it would be like to be the muse.
O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.
~William Shakespeare
I was in high school when the "Helga story" broke in the press. These hidden, secret paintings and drawings Wyeth had been hiding from everyone (including his wife) for 15 years.
It intrigued me. What would it be like to sit for such an artist?
This book fulfilled much of that curiosity. An authorized biography (Wyeth only and ever wanted Meryman to write his story), it delved into the details surrounding not only Wyeth, but his myriad of models as well (including Helga).
To read this:
Posing for Wyeth transformed Helga's life, gave it meaning and significance. "I became alive. It shows in the pictures. I became young overnight. I've never done anything more worthwhile." The experience unfurled the artist she had always felt in herself. She explains: "My mother tried to tell (my husband) many times, 'Helga is supersensitive. If you do not realize this, you're going to lose her.' He never got to the creative me that needed to be nourished. I was starving at home for doing something like this. I wasn't born just to be a housewife. That bored me. I was brought up in the art world, and I knew it."
(Helga's) walk home after posing "was something that nobody can even talk about, it was just so emotional, the richness of what I was thinking can never be recorded. I even regretted walking because I didn't want to be disturbed. I was like a deer. I was like a hunted animal."
But all was not excitement and happiness and fulfillment. Helga, herself, succumbed to a deep depression after her artistic endeavors with Wyeth were over. The publicity was brutal for her and her family.
Another of Wyeth's models explains:
"When Andy paints you it's a romance to the degree where you're the most important thing in the world to him. There's a whole string of models that really weren't able to cope with it because they believed it, and if you believe it, you don't cope with it. He gives you one hundred percent, but there's two hundred percent there and he keeps the other one hundred percent. You can't take that home with you. You have to separate it and stop right there.
When he's done with you, when he pulls the goddamn stakes up and the tent is taken down, there is nothing but a bare spot and the wind's howling and you're out there in the middle of the bare spot and he's gone."
A double-edged sword.
The fulfillment and nourishment of one's artistic soul being recognized as a muse.
The abandonment in the aftermath.
And yet, even Helga admitted, "I've never done anything more worthwhile."
An intriguing, thought-provoking look at what it means to be an artist, to be a muse, and to wonder at one's own life and sense of fulfillment.
It left me sated in my quest for more information ... and unsettled in my wonderings about such an experience.
May 6, 2013
Pentecost
Spring Fed
This is an extraordinary portrait of the American artist Andrew Wyeth. The author followed Andrew Wyeth since the 1960’s and it shows.
It’s a very personal view of the painter and his upbringing – his family, his wife Betsy , their children and the models he used. It is quite stunning to learn of the various influences that affected the paintings of Andrew Wyeth. We do feel the essence of this painter as the author describes the creation and generation of his works.
First and foremost, his father was the famous illustrator N.C. Wyeth. He brought his children up to be painters. Also – to put it mildly – N.C. was a benevolent tyrant – running his family as his personal fiefdom – interjecting himself constantly into their lives. For example, Andrew Wyeth, as well as his other siblings, was home schooled.
Andrew did come to choose his own painting style which could be called realism. He initially used water colours, but (against the advice of his father) then used a more challenging technique of tempera that utilizes egg yolks as part of the painting process. It gave a more evocative naturalism to his paintings. Andrew Wyeth would spend from weeks to months on one painting.
His paintings have a feeling of ying-yang in their realism with a strong contemplativeness – portraying both life and death. As the author states -contrary to most American artists, Andrew Wyeth was a rural painter. His subject matter was found close by his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and the Wyeth summer home in Maine. This combined rural and realism put him in a unique category. The paintings of Andrew Wyeth are striking for their simplistic details that speak through time. They are stripped of encumbrances and ostentation.
The furor or gossip that came with the revelations of the long hidden Helga paintings is discussed – part of the reason for the subtitle “a Secret Life”. I feel it is part of the American puritanical streak that there was such a pronounced reaction to the Helga nudes. It is even more perplexing because Wyeth had done nudes before – or maybe it was just the quantity and nature of the nudes. Also, by that time Andrew Wyeth had become an iconic figure in the American art world – and some may have felt that he should not be doing that “type” of art. Also Wyeth was caricatured by some, as a type of Norman Rockwell – he most definitely was not.
The book was published in 1996 and Andrew Wyeth had a long life and died in 2009 at the age of 92. The book has many reproductions, some are in colour. It’s a very upfront personal view of a great American painter.
Page 409 (my book) Marc Wilson
“Wyeth is so accessible to people of other cultures because he does deal with human issues – the passage of time, decay, fleeting existence. It’s not the parochial U.S. issues of the moment.”
Page 403 Andrew Wyeth
“In this age of chattering, I think we need to pause for monotony – with something smoldering in the middle of it. So much can be said by so little. I think great simplicity is complex. To my mind the master is the one who can give the effect of great simplicity and breath and yet you can go right up to it and enjoy it.”
[image error]
Adrift
Braids
Wyeth actually cut off the bottom of his painting, he felt by showing the ends of the braids that it would look "too cute"
Night Shadow
March 19, 2017
Andrew Wyeth has always been one of my favorite artists and this book did not disappoint. It's a very detailed biography of an amazingly complex person, with a huge focus on his long and complicated marriage/partnership with his wife Betsy. What a relationship they had... I greatly appreciated the fact that Andrew's father and siblings were included throughout, as of course they had a huge impact and had quite remarkable lives in their own right as well. I went through my Wyeth art books while reading this one and seeing his works in color enhance my reading experience. The information included about his technical processes and the world of art criticism was fascinating. This book has piqued my interest in further research, so I'm looking for the documentary Snow Hill and planning to visit the Wyeth family retrospective at the Greenville County Museum in SC that's ongoing thru August of this year. Loved this book and highly recommend!
April 8, 2022
Andrew Wyeth was a troubled soul as well as being a talented artist. This book provides a careful and balanced presentation of Wyeth as a man and as an artist. The author does a meticulous job of presenting the facts of Wyeth's life--his domineering father, his bizarre upbringing, his personal demons--yet always reserving value judgements. Readers are given all the facts necessary to make up their minds about whether he was cruel and willful or simply ambitious and misunderstood. The author understands at a deep level the difference between explanation and excuse. I found his restraint refreshing. I also made at least a dent in my ignorance about the technical aspects of his work. Some reviewers have mentioned that the book could have used more reproductions of the works discussed, but I personally thought it was well-illustrated--and for the works that aren't included, there is always the internet. I picked this up on impulse at the Brandywine Museum and I am glad I did.
February 15, 2015
I've always loved Wyeth's art and wanted to learn more about what motivated and inspired his work which is why I read this biography. It's filled with details of his family and friends and models and art but the writing was mechanical. As much as Merryman wants readers to understand the emotion, rage, secrecy of Wyeth's paintings there's no feeling in the book. There was no connection for the reader to the players in the story.
Did I learn about Andrew Wyeth? Certainly. Did I enjoy the course? Not really.
Did I learn about Andrew Wyeth? Certainly. Did I enjoy the course? Not really.
December 5, 2018
2.5 stars // Recommended only for true fans of Andrew Wyeth.
In short, this book is too long, too concerned with others, and contains too many instances of animal cruelty. Codependent relationships abound.
I read this book for an arts book club, and would have a hard time recommending it.
In short, this book is too long, too concerned with others, and contains too many instances of animal cruelty. Codependent relationships abound.
I read this book for an arts book club, and would have a hard time recommending it.
July 25, 2016
My caveat is that the reader needs a good collection of Wyeth repros at hand when reading, most particularly the Helga drawings and paintings. Both general collection and the Helgas are easily available in catalogue form. It would also help to have easy access to the works of N.C. Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth; hello, internet.
The order of the book is a little bit incoherent, and non-Wyeths move in and out of the story without much development. But these are minor quibbles. If, like me, you are here for the story of this painting dynasty, this book will keep you spellbound. To put it delicately, there are not normal people, nor were they raised to be by the domineering father/grandfather, N.C. Wyeth. It is a measure of the size of his personality that grandchildren who never met the man in life pay tribute to the enormous influence he has had on their lives, both good and deleterious.
Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life doesn't upend the Wyeth legacy in the way that, say, a Bob Timberlake biography that revealed his dark side would --- we already knew there is a lot more to Wyeth's work than the surface tranquility might indicate. But Meryman ably delineates where the darkness came from, and for that this biography is fundamental to an appreciation of Andrew Wyeth.
Highly recommend.
The order of the book is a little bit incoherent, and non-Wyeths move in and out of the story without much development. But these are minor quibbles. If, like me, you are here for the story of this painting dynasty, this book will keep you spellbound. To put it delicately, there are not normal people, nor were they raised to be by the domineering father/grandfather, N.C. Wyeth. It is a measure of the size of his personality that grandchildren who never met the man in life pay tribute to the enormous influence he has had on their lives, both good and deleterious.
Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life doesn't upend the Wyeth legacy in the way that, say, a Bob Timberlake biography that revealed his dark side would --- we already knew there is a lot more to Wyeth's work than the surface tranquility might indicate. But Meryman ably delineates where the darkness came from, and for that this biography is fundamental to an appreciation of Andrew Wyeth.
Highly recommend.
November 20, 2018
Written when Andrew Wyeth was still living, the author began this work way back in 1964 while he was working on a ,magazine article. He was able to befriend this reclusive artist and to gain his trust. Over the years he followed Wyeth’s career and got to sit with the artists friends and relatives. Thus, Wyeth is viewed from many angles, as his paintings should also be viewed.
This is the story of a close family, but not a typical American “nuclear family”. Both the Patriarch, N.C. Wyeth, and the son Andrew were strange men. They had strange habits and strange relationships with their family members and their friends and models. They were both very driven and have left their mark on America’s art scene.
I am very familiar with the area in which they chose as their home, the Brandywine Valley, and I am not at all surprised that such a beautiful area can produce and inspire such great artists as the Wyeths.
This is the story of a close family, but not a typical American “nuclear family”. Both the Patriarch, N.C. Wyeth, and the son Andrew were strange men. They had strange habits and strange relationships with their family members and their friends and models. They were both very driven and have left their mark on America’s art scene.
I am very familiar with the area in which they chose as their home, the Brandywine Valley, and I am not at all surprised that such a beautiful area can produce and inspire such great artists as the Wyeths.
June 27, 2010
This biography was written thirteen years before the death of Andrew Wyeth. It was quite complete, starting with Wyeth family history with much about N.C. Wyeth and his influence on his family. After N.C.'s death the book concentrated on Andrew. Since the 1960's, I have appreciated the works of Andrew Wyeth. I saw beauty and solitude in his work. I loved the Helga series. The author of the biography described the work as being full of hate and anger and violence. I much prefer my interpretation.
I read the book while vacationing in Rockland, Maine. I was familiar with the landscape of coastal Maine where much of the work was created.
I would have appreciated this book more if it had been condensed. Would I have wanted to be Betsy Wyeth? No way! I would not want to put up with Andrew Wyeth, no matter how great his art work might be.
I read the book while vacationing in Rockland, Maine. I was familiar with the landscape of coastal Maine where much of the work was created.
I would have appreciated this book more if it had been condensed. Would I have wanted to be Betsy Wyeth? No way! I would not want to put up with Andrew Wyeth, no matter how great his art work might be.
February 27, 2014
Overly long, filled with profiles of tangential characters and interviews with every model and second cousin who happened to drop by for dinner - still, it's full of insight into the artist's temperament and the iron-bound armor Wyeth donned to keep the world at bay so he could get some work done. It's a scanner but full of treasure for aspiring artists of every discipline -- if you keep on keeping on..
October 12, 2018
A compelling bio of the interior life and family dynamics of a great American painter and his distinguished family of great American artists, a book that had to be very difficult to write. The author digs into his subject's core and looking at the cover photo, that couldn't have been easy. As Andrew says about himself, "I'm not very nice." [p. 309]
May 4, 2007
A favorite Maine painter of mine, this book is so fun to read. Andrew's life is full of mystery and magic and horror...and all that feeds his art. I love his search for the "realness" in people and things.
November 13, 2008
Wyeth is a true artist in every sense of the word. A genius, but probably not one I'd want to live with. Fascinating biography, which I don't generally like a whole lot. You get snippets of the other famous Wyeths as well (N.C. and Jamie). This is one American dynasty I can be happy about.
January 17, 2017
How biographers arrange their material is a complete mystery to me, but I enjoyed watching this book unfold. However, the subject turned out to be a disturbing sort of person. His life story left me feeling fouled rather than enriched.
October 2, 2024
One of my favorite biographies ever - an in-depth look at Andrew Wyeth and his complicated, artistic, fascinating family.
August 24, 2023
Meryman had ample personal access to the Wyeth family. He paints a rotund portrait of the family members and their relationships to one another and their environment. It is quite a picture indeed. The author also was given access to family photos and the artists' works, but he was only allowed to reproduce these items in a negative black and white mode. This results in a somewhat eerie atmosphere. This actually fits in with the presentation of the Wyeth family history. Meryman includes abundant quotations by family members, a result of the generous access he was granted. This should certainly add to the authenticity of the biography. However, somehow many of the family observations are self-contradictory within the same utterance or do not make much sense. I'm not sure if the quotes reflect the style of speaking at that time and place, or whether the family members, especially Andrew, are enjoying deliberate obfuscation. Meryman's writing style also slides away from clarity at many points. Nevertheless, there is much to learn in this biography, maybe too much. I hope the knowledge of the complex and contradictory behavior of the artist and his family does not detract from enjoyment of his art.
June 29, 2016
As a long time admirer of the work of Andrew Wyeth, for some forty years, I wanted to read more about the life of the artist before visiting the Brandywine Museum so as to be better informed before my visit. This very detailed biography is very clearly written by a veteran journalist. It covers many details of where and why many of the pictures were created, including many family matters that influenced the personal and artistic choices as well as clarifying the many personality quirks of the artist.
Insights into the strong personalities of both his father, illustrator N. C. Wyeth, and his wife, Betsy Wyeth, give one some understanding of the somewhat cryptic, mercurial and secretive personality that was able to sit for months, developing and painting his very personal images. Also of interest was discussion of the process of arriving at the final composition. A major important step in the process for Andrew Wyeth seems to have been to reduce, distill, or simplify an image to its bare essentials; in some cases this meant painting out figures that had been included in the original plan.
Many artists are not fortunate to have careers that span seventy some years. Unfortunately, Wyeth endured a long period after the 1960's where, largely due to the unfavorable and often self-serving comments of "professional" art critics, his critical reputation suffered in the popular and professional art media. However, it was heartening to learn that Wyeth remained popular with the public, who remained loyal and showed up in large numbers throughout his lifetime. I doubt I will ever take seriously the comments of art critics in the future.
There are many color plates in this book, some too small to experience the detail, although useful in identifying the image. Some of the pictures referred to in this book were unfamiliar to me, were either unpictured in this volume, or pictured in black and white, thereby stimulating additional interest. I have read several additional coffee table type books of his exhibitions, greatly expanding my knowledge of Wyeth's work.
While many of the exhibit catalogs have some biographical information, none of the 6-7 books I have now read on Andrew Wyeth is as complete as this biography. The other most useful book I have read is, "An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art: N.c. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth"
Insights into the strong personalities of both his father, illustrator N. C. Wyeth, and his wife, Betsy Wyeth, give one some understanding of the somewhat cryptic, mercurial and secretive personality that was able to sit for months, developing and painting his very personal images. Also of interest was discussion of the process of arriving at the final composition. A major important step in the process for Andrew Wyeth seems to have been to reduce, distill, or simplify an image to its bare essentials; in some cases this meant painting out figures that had been included in the original plan.
Many artists are not fortunate to have careers that span seventy some years. Unfortunately, Wyeth endured a long period after the 1960's where, largely due to the unfavorable and often self-serving comments of "professional" art critics, his critical reputation suffered in the popular and professional art media. However, it was heartening to learn that Wyeth remained popular with the public, who remained loyal and showed up in large numbers throughout his lifetime. I doubt I will ever take seriously the comments of art critics in the future.
There are many color plates in this book, some too small to experience the detail, although useful in identifying the image. Some of the pictures referred to in this book were unfamiliar to me, were either unpictured in this volume, or pictured in black and white, thereby stimulating additional interest. I have read several additional coffee table type books of his exhibitions, greatly expanding my knowledge of Wyeth's work.
While many of the exhibit catalogs have some biographical information, none of the 6-7 books I have now read on Andrew Wyeth is as complete as this biography. The other most useful book I have read is, "An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art: N.c. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth"
July 17, 2024
This book was so interesting! Andrew Wyeth totally immersed himself in his subjects throughout his life and it often made me question art vs. reality in his own world as the line between the two was so often blurred. Art was his world. At one point in the book his wife Betsy said something along the lines of, “Andrew cheated on me, he cheated on his father, on his kids…” and it made me question how much he sacrificed for his art and if it was right. Is it selflessness or selfishness when your work to the extreme he did? His family suffered, although I am not sure they would openly admit it as it was for the art. This book keeps me wondering…I definitely have a new perspective of Andrew Wyeth and it was amazing to learn about his family and past. Him and his family does not lack complexity or mystery.
June 23, 2018
Andrew Wyeth's work has been criticised as being too accessible, perhaps because it is stark and seemingly simple. Several of the Wyeth family, including Andrew, have referred to insanity that runs through the family, which makes me wonder if some critics mistake the depth and insanity in the paintings as accessibility. The paintings are much more than they seem to be, with backstories that are often ugly and cruel.
While the book does not explain how Helga was paid for posing, it details the lies Andrew Wyeth told his wife in order to keep the work secret. Further, it documents Betsy Wyeth's hurt and anger once the secret was revealed. At a recent Andrew Wyeth exhibition, a docent at Seattle Art Museum commented that Andrew worked prolifically because Betsy liked to buy houses; however, the author of this book depicts Wyeth as an artist who could not bear to live without painting. Buying and refurbishing houses was Betsy's own means of self-expression, creativity and freedom. I found their relationship one of the most interesting in the book, particularly because Andrew admits more than once, "I am not a nice man". It is remarkable that Betsy hired Helga to care for Andrew in his later years when his health was failing. Andrew's world was never as simple as it seemed.
While the book does not explain how Helga was paid for posing, it details the lies Andrew Wyeth told his wife in order to keep the work secret. Further, it documents Betsy Wyeth's hurt and anger once the secret was revealed. At a recent Andrew Wyeth exhibition, a docent at Seattle Art Museum commented that Andrew worked prolifically because Betsy liked to buy houses; however, the author of this book depicts Wyeth as an artist who could not bear to live without painting. Buying and refurbishing houses was Betsy's own means of self-expression, creativity and freedom. I found their relationship one of the most interesting in the book, particularly because Andrew admits more than once, "I am not a nice man". It is remarkable that Betsy hired Helga to care for Andrew in his later years when his health was failing. Andrew's world was never as simple as it seemed.
December 31, 2019
Wow, what an epic, interesting life. I recently became interested in Wyeth’s work and I wanted to read more about who he was - this certainly did the job. Almost 500 detailed pages about him, his siblings, his father and mother, his wife, his children, his models, and everything in between. It was a long, long read but I can honestly say that although it was time consuming, it was an enjoyable read through and through. I suppose I wish I could have seen more images and pictures of his paintings included in the texts, however I suppose I’ll have to go to a museum instead and see them myself! Definitely recommend.
September 21, 2013
To be honest, I'm surprised at all the rave reviews of this book! It is well written but I found it WAY too long and I found it a real snooze-fest. Every person who had ever crossed into Wyeth's life- every agonizing family detail- the minute details of every place he lived, every relative, every friend, every thought-- is gone into with excruciating intimacy. If you are a huge Andrew Wyeth buff you might be interested but I found myself putting the book down way too much in favor of others. After renewing it 3 times at the library, I realized I just wasn't going to finish it... too much of a bore. Zzzzzzz.
August 7, 2017
Excellent! Great insight into Andrew Wyeth's life and work.
February 17, 2020
I almost gave it a 5. Wow!!! What a story and what a life. The book explores his childhood, wife, his secrets, and ..... I believe he was one of the greatest painters of the 20th century.
March 24, 2023
This is an excellent and very readable biography by an author who knew Andrew Wyeth well and had access to him over many years. He explores NC Wyeth’s personal and artistic influence on the entire family and the wrenching reversal of parent-child roles in later life. In the Wyeth family, “understanding vindicates behavior,” especially the behavior of male artists.
One of the lessons Andrew took from NC was an obsessive insistence on being able to work uninterrupted which allowed his creativity to be paramount. Selfish? Yes. Necessary? Yes. Luckily for him (and us) he was surrounded by others who allowed and encouraged this so he could pursue his dreams.
All my life I’ve felt an affinity/connection to Andrew Wyeth. I remember the 1965 Life magazine issue with his artwork. It was accessible and deeply emotional when so much modern art was not. Many of the locations where he worked were places I have been. Annual visits to Brandywine with our children to spend the day picnicking on the battlefield and walking along the river always included a visit to the Conservancy gallery. We viewed the Helga collection with our artistic 10 year old son, Andrew. He appreciated Jamie Wyeth’s pig portrait more. It was a thrill to read the story of the Helgas.
My takeaway: There is an edge of madness and creativity in everyone. How we use it, disguise it, deny it or just let it fly defines each of us.
One of the lessons Andrew took from NC was an obsessive insistence on being able to work uninterrupted which allowed his creativity to be paramount. Selfish? Yes. Necessary? Yes. Luckily for him (and us) he was surrounded by others who allowed and encouraged this so he could pursue his dreams.
All my life I’ve felt an affinity/connection to Andrew Wyeth. I remember the 1965 Life magazine issue with his artwork. It was accessible and deeply emotional when so much modern art was not. Many of the locations where he worked were places I have been. Annual visits to Brandywine with our children to spend the day picnicking on the battlefield and walking along the river always included a visit to the Conservancy gallery. We viewed the Helga collection with our artistic 10 year old son, Andrew. He appreciated Jamie Wyeth’s pig portrait more. It was a thrill to read the story of the Helgas.
My takeaway: There is an edge of madness and creativity in everyone. How we use it, disguise it, deny it or just let it fly defines each of us.
February 19, 2022
Judiciously written hagiography about a great American artist, best known for Christina’s World, who peaked in the post WWII era. Andrew Wyeth was more or less old-schooled in the 60’s when pop art, etc, came along.
“If there is one thing the elite of the art world can’t abide, it is the realization that an artist they might admire is also the particular favorite of plumbers and farmers. It threatens their claim to be ‘special,’ to have insights and sensitivities beyond those of ‘ordinary’ human beings.”
I was a little queasy on the issue of painting nudes of a 13 year-old girl. Also, there is damndably suspicious relationship with a voluptuous woman named Helga, who became his nude model for years. He had most of his sessions with her in secret and he hid many of the canvases. Yet there is barely a hint of sex or scandal, because Andrew Wyeth was still alive during the writing of this book and he obviously had final approval.
Reading level: high. Delves into technique, so if you’re not interested in art . . . btw, his specialty was tempera . . . egg yolks.
“If there is one thing the elite of the art world can’t abide, it is the realization that an artist they might admire is also the particular favorite of plumbers and farmers. It threatens their claim to be ‘special,’ to have insights and sensitivities beyond those of ‘ordinary’ human beings.”
I was a little queasy on the issue of painting nudes of a 13 year-old girl. Also, there is damndably suspicious relationship with a voluptuous woman named Helga, who became his nude model for years. He had most of his sessions with her in secret and he hid many of the canvases. Yet there is barely a hint of sex or scandal, because Andrew Wyeth was still alive during the writing of this book and he obviously had final approval.
Reading level: high. Delves into technique, so if you’re not interested in art . . . btw, his specialty was tempera . . . egg yolks.
January 14, 2019
This is a very in-depth biography of Andrew Wyeth, a great American artist, loved by the public and panned by many art critics, who hated his realism and focus on rural life. Richard Meryman goes well beyond the surface to try to understand what made Wyeth tick. I found the sections about Christina Olsen (subject of his most famous painting) and the Helga paintings to be fascinating. Wyeth was a very complex personality, often very empathetic toward those he painted but also sometimes cruel and unfeeling toward his own family. Perhaps the only thing he truly loved was his art. The main drawback for a lot of readers will be all the detail on Wyeth's various relatives and the subjects of his paintings. I am sure many readers will simply skip over some of those parts. It would be helpful if this book had an index of names to make it easier to find those people you were interested in knowing more about.
February 21, 2022
I'm fascinated with the lives of all kinds of artists, especially ones who are super prolific and obsessed, which Wyeth was.
The writing in this biography was disjointed. It was hard to deal with some of the sexism and racism. Sometimes I felt Meryman held back because Wyeth was still alive when it was published--as was his wife Betsy. Their tumultuous marriage was central to the book. The portrait of their relationship and how she affected his art (and the business of his art) was interesting.
Even given its flaws, I'm glad read it and now have a larger impression of what his life was about in relationship to his art.
The writing in this biography was disjointed. It was hard to deal with some of the sexism and racism. Sometimes I felt Meryman held back because Wyeth was still alive when it was published--as was his wife Betsy. Their tumultuous marriage was central to the book. The portrait of their relationship and how she affected his art (and the business of his art) was interesting.
Even given its flaws, I'm glad read it and now have a larger impression of what his life was about in relationship to his art.
April 13, 2020
I have been a fan of Wyeth's work for most of my life; however, until I read Meryman's biography of the artist and his work I realized that I had never fully appreciated or understood what Wyeth was actually painting. This was a complex book about an incredibly complex man - indeed, a member of a complex family of artists and creators. I don't know when a book has taken me so long to read - and changed so much of what I thought I knew!
July 8, 2018
Nicely written biography that does not try and deify Wyeth. Instead, it tries to get to the truth of him and his complicated family. It depicts a man possessed by art with an astonishing work ethic. Based on many decades of personal interviews with Wyeth and those in his life, this myopic offers an intimate view into his secret life.
August 10, 2019
Andrew Wyeth was a simple, yet fascinating, human whose artistic style and paintings have impressed many over 6+ decades. However, the storyteller left out very little about Wyeth almost to the minutiae which made for quite a drawn out tome. I appreciated some of Wyeth’s artwork placed throughout and, as a result of this biography, will be further endeared to him and his work.
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