WONDROUS STRANGE: THE WYETH TRADITION - HOWARD PYLE, N.C. WYETH, ANDREW WYETH, JAMES WYETH.

Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1998. 168 pp, 4to (11 1/4" H). "Swashbuckling, romantic, mysterious, fantastical - all these words can be used to describe the art in this splendid book of 'wondrous strange' paintings by four great American artists. Conceived and entitled by Betsy James Wyeth, (it) focuses on an aspect of American realism that stems from the great turn-of-the-century illustrator Howard Pyle and continues in the work of his student N.C. Wyeth, N.C.'s son Andrew Wyeth, and his grandson Jamie Wyeth. The thread that links the four artists is an imaginative, often disquieting, dreamlike imagery - 'the incarnation of the fantastic in everyday reality'. The colourful paintings - thirty by each artist - are brimming with madness, mystery, high emotion, and drama. As Susan Larsen notes in the introduction, this book 'is full of literary flights of fancy, exotic adventures, spiritual journeys, romantic encounters, and children's fables played out on the stage of ordinary life'. Other insightful essays examine the relationships among Pyle and the Wyeths, suggesting how illustration and the fine arts intersect in their work. (This) is an enchanting collection of art by America's most famous family of artists." Small bump at bottom edge of front board. Dust jacket has come light edge wrinkling, light fading to spine and front hinge color.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good-. Illus. by Howad Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, James Wyeth..