This book and the accompanying retrospective exhibition in Kansas City give us the rare opportunity to consider the six-decade career of a signal American artist in light of as many years of thorny critical debate. As Thomas Hoving reminds usin his thoughtful introductory essay, Andrew Wyeth and his work are extremely complex. Neither submits comfortably tothe categorizations into which much critical writing has tried to cast them. There has been the tendency to superimposeon the art preconceived critical positions limited by parochial boundaries rather than to try to understand the means Wyethexploits to reveal our times and our psyche with such compelling force. At once alluring and unsettling, the work strikesthe very heart of our emotional being, reminding us that art is ultimately about truth and the human condition.

This book and the accompanying retrospective exhibition in Kansas City give us the rare opportunity to consider the six-decade career of a signal American artist in light of as many years of thorny critical debate. As Thomas Hoving reminds usin his thoughtful introductory essay, Andrew Wyeth and his work are extremely complex. Neither submits comfortably tothe categorizations into which much critical writing has tried to cast them. There has been the tendency to superimposeon the art preconceived critical positions limited by parochial boundaries rather than to try to understand the means Wyethexploits to reveal our times and our psyche with such compelling force. At once alluring and unsettling, the work strikesthe very heart of our emotional being, reminding us that art is ultimately about truth and the human condition.

 We are extremely grateful to R. Crosby Kemper, without whose good offices the exhibition in Kansas City wouldnot have occurred. His pivotal role in bringing the only American showing of the exhibition to The Nelson-AtkinsMuseum of Art and his financial support through UMB Banks and the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation demonstrateonce again his liberal and generous patronage.

 This book and the exhibition are the result of a long and fruitful relationship between Andrew Wyeth and ThomasHoving, to both of whom we extend our thanks. Our gratitude extends to all the individuals acknowledged by Mr.Hoving, especially to our friends at the Chunichi Shimbun. Special recognition should go to Margaret C. Conrads, SamuelSosland Curator of American Art at the Nelson-Atkins, for coordinating all aspects of the exhibition and its related

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Plates and Commentary

Personal Chronology

Chronology of Exhibitons

Selected Bibliography

Index