Сам Уайет называл свою философию иллюстрирования многозначным термином - "sight seen", который я бы перевёл как способность взглянуть и передать увиденное зрителю с позиции единственного наблюдателя - самого художника. То есть это такая форма подачи материала, в которой предельная точность реалий и тщательная продуманность фантазий - не просто цель художника убедить зрителя в чём-то, а представить событие как само собой разумеющийся факт, о котором зрителю было известно и с чем он всегда был согласен. Взгляд Уайета - это взгляд ребёнка - снизу вверх, восторженный взгляд мальчика; это память художника о переживаниях, мечтах, фантазиях детства и юности; о ярком солнце и о больших деревьях, отбрасывающих длинные послеполуденные тени; о многоцветном, контрастном, полном движения, загадок и открытий мире - это разбуженные художником наши чувства.
Robin Hood by Paul Creswick
Illustrated by N.C.WYETH
Philadelphia
D. McKay
1917
Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945) was one of the greatest illustrators and painters of the twentieth century. He studied under Howard Pyle between 1902 and 1904 and assimilated the teacher’s philosophy to capture natural aspects and meanings through "mental projection." The artist created 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books. The paintings created by the maestro are really mental: they live, sound, and are remembered; you definitely want to return to them. Dynamism and complexity of composition; excellent color and skillful distribution of light contrasting with deeply cast shadow; and something transcendental, radiating a vibrant emotionality that is immediately transmitted to the viewer, forcing him to intensely empathize with the characters in the story—this is the visual style of Newell Convers Wyeth. Wyeth himself called his philosophy of illustration a polysemantic term—"sight seen," which I would translate as the ability to look and convey what is seen to the viewer from the position of a single observer—the artist himself. That is, this is a form of presenting material in which the utmost accuracy of realities and carefully thought-out fantasies are not simply the artist's goal to convince the viewer of something but to present the event as a self-evident fact, which the viewer knew about and with which he has always agreed. Wyeth's gaze is the gaze of a child—from bottom to top, the enthusiastic gaze of a boy; it is the artist's memory of the experiences, dreams, and fantasies of childhood and youth; of the bright sun and of large trees casting long afternoon shadows; of a multi-colored, contrasting world full of movement, mysteries, and discoveries—these are our feelings awakened by the artist.
Иллюстрации даны по изданию, хранимому в фондах Университетских калифорнийских библиотек (University of California Libraries), находящееся в оцифрованном виде на сайте "Архив Интернета" (archive.org)