Book Signing with Thomas McKnight

The Hickory Stick Bookshop is delighted to welcome artist and author Thomas McKnight who will be at the store on Saturday July 20th at 3.00 pm to promote his new book “Tales of Mykonos”. He will give a talk about the book and follow up with a book signing.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Thomas McKnight, an artist famous for prints and paintings of dreamlike views and interiors reveals a new dimension to his search for the soul of his special place – the Greek island of Mykonos.

In the tradition of Isak Dinesen and E.T.A. Hoffmann a tapestry of fourteen tales weave echoes of ancient myths, with a contemporary Mykonos many consider the epitome of an island paradise. Odysseus visits on his way back from Troy; Circe enchants; Apollo snares new acolytes with his lyre, and a novelist carelessly strikes a Faustian bargain with a sinister boatman. Daphnis again meets Chloe and an artist falls for the daughter of a centaur. A strange landlord, and his blind lodger, a fallen movie queen, and the last priest of a classical god all make their entrances (and exits) on this magic island.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born in 1941 in Lawrence, Kansas, Thomas McKnight grew up in the suburbs of Montreal, New York, and Washington, D.C. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, he studied art history at Columbia University. He then served in Korea with the army for two years, and later worked for Time Magazine.

Since devoting himself to painting full time in 1972, McKnight’s work has been exhibited in over four hundred one-man shows throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, and has appeared everywhere from the cover of Reader’s Digest to Japanese calendars. His prints have appeared in numerous movies and television shows, including Beverly Hills 90210 and When Harry Met Sally. Along with countless private and public collections, McKnight’s work is represented in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York and Washington’s Smithsonian Institute as well as the New Britian Museum of Art in Connecticut.

In 1988 McKnight’s print Constitution was chosen as the official image of the U.S. Constitution Bicentennial. In fact, Constitution was one of the only three art works that the First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton chose to bring to Washington from Little Rock when President Clinton was elected. The serigraph hung in the White House solarium which served as the First Family’s living room. Longtime McKnight fans, the Clintons asked the artist to create an image for the Presidential Christmas card in 1994, in 1995, and 1996. His warm images of the White House Red, Green, and Blue Rooms at holiday time have now appeared on almost a million cards sent out worldwide from the White House.

Seven books of McKnight’s art have been published (two in Japan), including Voyage to Paradise, and the most recent one titled Arcadia. He was commissioned by the city of Kobe, Japan, in 1993 to create a series of paintings to serve as the centerpiece for two-year celebration of it’s tricentennial. This was accompanied by a retrospective of his work at the Kobe Art Museum.

Thomas McKnight and his Austrian born wife, Renate, divide their time among homes in New York City and Litchfield, Connecticut.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

“Adds a new dimension to the way I remember Mykonos” — Peter Hartleben, author of “Ulysses and Circe, A Forbidden Romance”

“Modern tales based on ancient myths are like old wine in new bottles. And aged wine is the best.” — Mark Leamon

“Not since Lawrence Durrell or John Fowles has such a romantic eye gazed upon one of our Greek Islands” — Panos Ritsos

“Many have visited the Greek island of Mykonos. Few have peered into its soul.” — Luca Luria, Il Gazetto

This event is free and open to the public. If you are unable to attend this event, you may reserve signed copies of “Tales of Mykonos” by calling The Hickory Stick Bookshop at (860) 868 0525, or shop our website 24/7 at www.hickorystickbookshop.com.