The Apprenticeship of Andrew Wyeth

Painting a Family Legacy

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Christy Ottaviano Books

(Little, Brown and Company

Books for Young Readers)

pub. 10.7.2025

40 pages

Ages 5 - 9

Author and Illustrator: Gene Barretta

Character: Andrew Wyeth

Overview:

"Andrew Wyeth is one of the greatest American painters of the twentieth century. Before he found his creative voice, he was a boy growing up in an artistic family, spending his time in rural Pennsylvania and Maine.

Andy, as he was called by his family, was trained by his father, renowned artist N.C. Wyeth, but they didn’t always see eye to eye. Pa wanted his son to work in bold, bright colors, and to fill his compositions with exciting characters and places. But to Andy, the most exciting stories to paint were the ones he lived every day, that featured the familiar people and places he loved most."

Tantalizing taste:

"The paintings tell Andy and Betsy's life story in the same ways that diaries and scrapbooks do; the people and places were an intimate part of their lives ...

Andy's watercolors can be abstract and wild. As if his brush cut across the paper like a sword, splashing paint in every direction. The egg temperas can feel quiet and poetic, carefully crafted in a private meditation over the course of months."

And something more: The DId You Know? section explains: "Andy never felt the need to change his style to fit in with popular trends. That made him unpopular with certain critics who failed to see that his realistic subjects were depicted with modern, abstract compositions and painting techniques."

Lovely quote by him: "I think one's art goes as far and as deep as one's love goes."