Rethinking Andrew Wyeth

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism

Rethinking Andrew Wyeth Details

Review "Noteworthy insight into the paintings, career and popularity of one of the most revered artists of the 20th century." (Publishers Weekly 2014-06-23)"This collection of critiques seeks to elevate Wyeth’s work and make him 'matter to us innew ways.' ” (Shelf Life 2015-03-01)"A strong step toward a reevaluation of an artist whose complexity still largely eludes us." (Jennifer A. Greenhill Art Journal 2015-03-01)"This volume of essays looks at him afresh, exploring his critical reception and offering new interpretations of his work from a range of art-historical and biographical perspectives." (Apollo 2014-09-01) Read more From the Inside Flap "This timely collection of insightful essays contributes to a growing body of new scholarship on this artist of significance. Scholars and critics are rethinking Wyeth―an artist the collectors and public have always loved. This volume pushes that overdue, meaningful reassessment along at just the right moment." ―Patricia McDonnell, Director, Wichita Art Museum Read more See all Editorial Reviews

Reviews

Critics preoccupied with progressive ideas about art have too often dismissed Andrew Wyeth as merely a sentimental illustrator. To correct this perspective, the authors of the essays in this book have offered reassessments of both Wyeth's work and of the misperceptions surrounding it. They have provided an overview of his critical reception during his long career, an exploration of his techniques, critiques of specific works, comparisons with other artists and even writers, and a survey of his wide audience. The book illustrates these essays with beautiful (if somewhat small) color reproductions of many of his very best works. This is thought provoking stuff, even for someone like me who has read a fair number of other works on Wyeth.To focus for a moment on the last essay, titled "Surviving the Conceptual Collapse of Art in the Modern Age of Anxiety," its author Donald Kuspit writes, "Anxiety, rather than beauty, is the preferred 'theme' of art in modernity. But to be charged with anxiety means that art is threatened at its foundation...." The author elaborates:"Anxiety about art leads one to regard it as a matter of chance, sparing one the trouble of having to work to make it, and with that the skill and devotion necessary to make it work as art: to have a transformational effect on the engaged viewer, altering his consciousness for the better, which means making him more sensitive to the aesthetic aspects of things and the emotional nuances of experience than he could ever be with his everyday consciousness."Kuspit states that this is exactly why the works of Andrew Wyeth appeal to such a wide audience, contrary to his critics. They embody not only the traditional skills, but also the traditional goals of aesthetic beauty and emotional relevance.To speak for myself, Andrew Wyeth is one of my favorite artists, along with Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne and a few others. Each explored rather circumscribed areas by means of their own particular stylistic innovations, then stuck to their own visions regardless of how they were perceived by others. Each produced a remarkable and unique body of work widely appreciated as beautiful and worthy of exploration, like little worlds of their own making.So in my opinion, Wyeth was one of the most important American artists of the last century and should be ranked among the greatest painters of any place or period. He very much deserves this critical reassessment.

Share this post