DAYBOOK: The Journey Of An Artist

In Daybook, Anne keeps an illuminating and inspiring journal over a period of seven years, determined to come to terms with the forces that shaped her art and life.

Daybook was her first memoir exploring her journey to become an artist and was originally published by Pantheon in 1982. In Daybook, Anne keeps an illuminating and inspiring journal over a period of seven years, determined to come to terms with the forces that shaped her art and life. Within its beautifully written pages, you will come to know a woman whose range of sensitivity – moral, intellectual, sensual, emotional, and spiritual – was remarkably broad. She recalls her childhood on the eastern shore of Maryland, her career change from psychology to art, and her path to making sculpture so finely painted they would “set color free in three dimensions.” She reflects on the generous advice of other artists, watches her own daughter's journey into motherhood, meditates on criticism and solitude, and struggles to express her vision. Resonant and true, encouraging and revelatory, Anne Truitt guides herself – and us – through a life in which domestic activities and the needs of children and friends are constantly juxtaposed against the world of color and abstract geometry to which she is drawn in her art. A rare window on the workings of a creative mind, Daybook showcases an extraordinary artist whose insights generously and succinctly illuminate the artistic process. Anne Truitt (1921-2004) became famous across the art world for her wooden constructions painted in subtle layers of color, fabricated in accordance with scale drawings. She received fellowships from the Guggenheim and the National Endowment for the Arts, and her work continues to be showcased in major museums throughout the U.S. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art) and the world.