arts & humanities

摘要

This survey of the work of American realist painter Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) is published in connection with an exhibition appearing at Pennsylvania's Brandywine River Museum of Art and the Seattle Art Museum for the centennial of Wyeth's birth. Sympathetic essays by eight scholars discuss aspects of the artist's biography and career as well as popular and critical reaction to his work, all of which depict subjects at Chadd's Ford, PA, or coastal Maine. A well-chosen selection of Wyeth's most famous paintings, along with less often reproduced pieces, illustrates the essays. Among a large body of Wyeth scholarship, including many exhibition catalogs and several previous book- length works, most of these essays cover familiar ground, such as his family legacy, his portraits of neighboring families over decades, and his once-secret erotic paintings. Some writings also delve into the importance of World War I imagery to Wyeth, his potentially problematic relationship with African American subjects, and the critical reception of his art in Japan. VERDICT An updated but mostly familiar look at a renowned artist, suitable for both art lovers and scholars.—Kathryn Wekselman, Cincinnati.