Wondrous Strange : The Wyeth Tradition [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

N.C. Wyeth (Author), Andrew Wyeth (Author), James Wyeth (Author), Delaware Art Museum (Cor) (Author), Howard Pyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

Conceived and entitled Wondrous Strange by Andrew Wyeth's wife Betsy James Wyeth, this magnificent book focuses on an aspect of American realism that stems from the great turn-of-the-century illustrator Howard Pyle and is manifest in the work of his student, N. C. Wyeth, N. C.'s son Andrew Wyeth, and his grandson Jamie Wyeth. It shows the one motivation that most dramatically links these four generations of artists -- to delve into realities that are more closely related to memory and imagination than anything in the natural world. This little-known aspect of American Realism finds a close connection with a wide range of artists, from the Pre-Raphaelites to Steven Spielberg. Madness, mystery, high emotion, and drama figure prominently in the fantastical and colorful art shown here -- thirty paintings by each artist. Insightful essays examine the relationships among all four artists and suggest how illustration and the fine arts intersect in their work. Wondrous Strange is an enchanting collection of art by America's first family of the art world.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Demonic eyes shining out of a shadowy tree. A blind man staggering through a moonlit landscape. Disembodied, dark hands rising out of snow. A feral dog with one blue eye. Ambiguous shadows harboring human shapes. These are but a few of the eerie images in this mesmerizing, wondrous book. There are four artists represented here: three generations of Wyeth men--N.C., Andrew, and James--and Howard Pyle, artistically speaking the father of them all. An essay on each artist precedes a generous selection of stunning, full-size, color plates of his work; the essay on Andrew is written by his wife, Betsy. It is Betsy who originally conceived of the exhibition that led to the book. David Michaelis, author of a new biography of N.C., writes, "The intensity of her relationship with all three Wyeths makes her the true linking figure in what has too often been simplified as a male succession."

The simple chronological ordering of the book, from Pyle to his student N.C. Wyeth, to N.C.'s son Andrew, to Andrew's son James, turns out to have a peculiar power. The gaudy, tricky, glorious too-muchness of both Pyle and James make illustrational bookends around the more subtly drawn histrionics of N.C. and Andrew. It might come as a surprise to fans of Andrew's uniquely sublime naturalistic gifts that he possesses an uncanny streak of surrealism, which he couches in his otherwise orderly realism. The book as a whole should give hours and hours of pleasure to Pyle and Wyeth fans of all persuasions and generations. --Peggy Moorman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Howard Pyle is the father of American illustration. His student, N.C. Wyeth, became America's foremost illustrator in the early twentieth century. Andrew Wyeth is one of the most distinguished artists of this century. His work has been widely-exhibited and published. Jamie Wyeth continues the family tradition as an outstanding and popular artist, and has written and illustrated children's books. Susan C. Larsen:Chief Curator of the Farnsworth Art Museum. David Michaelis: author of N.C. Wyeth: A Biography (Knopf, 1998). Stephen Bruni:Executive Director of the Delaware Art Museum.Betsy James Wyeth: wife of Andrew Wyeth, is author of several Wyeth books.Theodore Wolff: former art critic, Christian Science Monitor; Christopher Crosman : Director of the Farnsworth Museum. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 130 pages
• ISBN-10: 0821225375
• ASIN: B000065V1S
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 10.5 x 1 inches
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,789,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the non-art initiated, the book is a feast for the imagl, October 13, 1999

By 

Maurice Fredette III ([e-mail]) (Farmingdale, Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wondrous Strange: The Wyeth Tradition (Hardcover)

For the non-art initiated, the book is a feast for the imagination as well as the eyes. I bought the book because I come from the mid-coast of Maine, like the Wyeths. But when I took the time to look at the book on a night we lost power due to a snow storm, I found the views conjured stories up in my mind to match the Wondrously Strange images. I've driven by the Wyeth Center a thousand times, but made a point to visit to see for my self. I'm also fortunate to have a copy signed by Jamie Wyeth, and hope to keep as a treasure for a long time.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing, June 21, 2001

By 

Jeff Spann - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wondrous Strange: The Wyeth Tradition (Hardcover)

The images floor me. If a picture is worth a thousand words.... then this collection speaks incalculable volumes.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Overview of a Century of Americana, April 26, 2002

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wondrous Strange: The Wyeth Tradition (Hardcover)

For many years it has been the practice of critics and art aficionados to relegate "popular artists" the likes of Norman Rockwell and the Wyeth clan to the bin of kitsch. Time heals and alters and distance is kind as the current resurgence of appreciation of these and other artists of the land testifies. Norman Rockwell now is considered an important American artist, sensitive to basic issues of what makes America the land of the common man's dream. With this beautifully designed and written tome the same adulation should follow for the Wyeth clan. The authors (Betsy Wyeth among them) had the good idea to show the seeds of the very familiar Wyeth imagery in the work of Howard Pyle, an artist known primarily as an illustrator along the lines of over the edge fantasy adventure books. His pupil N.C. Wyeth took up the torch, primarily emulating Pyle's style but taking it to a new level. His works of isolation, thwarted desire, and simple American traditions are absorbed by his son Andrew Wyeth who won favor among collectors of realist art during the time the country was running after Modernism, Expresionism, Abstraction. And finally Jaime Wyeth, son of Andrew, has been a constant presence with his quasi-surreal take on many of the same subjects as his progenitors. The circle comes round with Pyle and Jaime Wyeth embracing the more perverse subjects - an interesting century wheel turning round and round.

The color reproductions are generous and well selected. Many of the well know Wyeth images are excluded, but in their place we are treated to images we have never seen. This is a beautiful volume and a tender one, a memento of what our childhood in the 20th Century was like before the madness currently painted hit.