Art, Life and UFOs
A Memoir

by Budd Hopkins

Trade Paperback, 438 Pages, 35 Illustrations

$24.95, ISBN: 1933665416

Genre(s): UFOs

An intimate account, in three interlocked themes, of one man’s remarkably complex life.

ART: Budd Hopkins was a nationally known Abstract Expressionist painter, with works in the collections of the Guggenheim, Whitney, and Metropolitan Museums, as well as Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and New York's Museum of Modern Art. In this revealing memoir, Hopkins explains the development of his work and describes with keen insight his friendships with senior artists such as Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, and Robert Motherwell, and the importance he finds in their work. 

LIFE: Beginning with his childhood and youth in West Virginia, a period that remains a central theme in this memoir, Hopkins goes on to discuss his life as a victim of polio during the pandemic of the 1930s, his complex relationship with his father, his participation in the famous “Cedar Bar years” of Abstract Expressionism, his adventures evading the attentions of several prominent members in New York's once closeted gay scene, and his summer life in Cape Cod. 

UFOs: Hopkins spent more than 30 years investigating UFO reports and was considered a world expert on UFO abductions. He has authored four seminal books on the subject, including Missing Time and the New York Times bestseller Intruders, which was the subject of a CBS miniseries. Among the personal or professional relationships he writes about during his research are those with the astronomers Carl Sagan and J. Allen Hynek, the philanthropist Laurence Rockefeller, and the Harvard psychiatrist John Mack.

About the Author:

Budd Hopkins, Abstract Expressionist and U.F.O. Author, Dies at 80

Praise for his previous UFO books...

"All Mr. Hopkins is asking for in these pages is a hearing, and he deserves that. His yarn is much too interesting to put down." — New York Times

"One comes to a tender regard for Hopkins's subjects. Their uniform similarities of description of their UFO abductions and of the aliens bear a faithful fact that could sway many an ironclad skeptic." —  Kirkus Reviews 

"Any reader keeping an open mind is unlikely to dismiss Hopkins's...contentions out-of-hand." — New York Post

"Hopkins' disarming manner as he leads the reader through the steps of his research adds credibility to the science fictional aspects of this account." — Publishers Weekly

The CBS miniseries based on Budd Hopkins'  bookIntruders "...pleads a convincing case to the effect that the invasion from outer space is not fiction but fact." — Houston Chronicle


Accolades for his art...

"One of the year's best shows and one which fills in the blank space after an unanswered question 'whatever happened to Abstract Expressionism?'” — New York Times

“Hopkins blends the bold brushwork of action painting with the clean-cut, emblematic colors of hard-edged abstraction. The canvases are large, the spectrum vibrant, the manner authoritative.” — Time

“Hera's Wall has the wide range and the unity of a masterpiece.” — Art in America

"Hopkins...gets just the right degree of ambiguity into his guardian figures...and they have both the coiled energy of a human being on the watch and the density and assurance of color that we ask of geometric abstract painting. They are the best paintings that Mr. Hopkins has done." — New York Times

CONTENTS

PART ONE: BEGINNINGS 
Wheeling, West Virginia
The Night of the Martians  
Washington, D. C., and the Coming War  
Toy Guns and a Real Bomber 
Family Racism 
Sex in the Boonies  
Elite Imprisonment  
 
PART TWO: ART 
Art, Oberlin, and a New Life 
Nicki, the Motherwell Seminar, and Europe 
Manhattan, At Last 
Three Painters: 
   Mark Rothko  
   Jackson Pollock  
   Franz Kline
Struggling Through the 1950s 
Politicians, Writers, and Musicians 
Dodging Hits 
A New, Life-Changing Decade 
The August UFO Sighting  
Aftermath
October 31, 1966 
Navigating Some Turbulent Times 
April, Grace, and Mahler’s Castle  
 
PART THREE: UFOs 
One Mile from Broadway  
Catching Up  
The Erosion of Doubt 
The Case of the Connecticut Hikers  
Guardians, Temples, and Altars 
Longpoint Gallery
Missing Time  
NBC News – The Catalyst 
Straddling Two Lives 
Calming the Tremors 
Robert Motherwell and the Sculpture Years 
Intruders  
The Novelist and the Movie Star  
The Curious Case of Carl Sagan  
The March to Seniorhood  
Three Portrait Sketches: 
   J. Allen Hynek 
   John Mack  
   Laurence Rockefeller 
Life in the New Millennium  
 
PART FOUR: A FEW FURTHER THOUGHTS 
Cape Cod and New York  
Soul Map 
Index 

What they're saying:

“This is an excellent book – well written, compulsively readable, often funny, enlightening.  Budd sent it to me in manuscript, and I raced through it in several sittings.  I recommend it highly.”  — UFO historian Jerome Clark

"Art, Life and UFOs is a significant book, one worth reading carefully. It is important and revealing...Whatever your take on UFOs and abductions, you should read this book if you want to understand the subject better...Hopkins's memoir is indispensable." -- Peter Brookesmith, Fortean Times

"I found the book to be captivating, and while much of the UFO related material can be found in Budd’s other books, the condensed version here made it all easier to understand. It brought a bright light on his introduction and then immersion into UFOs and abductions...So, in the end, we have a fascinating book about Budd Hopkins. We have a book that is necessary for the student of UFOs, but also for the student of the Arts...This...is a book that should be read by those interested in UFOs, in art, and in the human condition. It also provides, though I don’t think it was intentional, a history of the evolution of American society from the end of the depression to the point we have reached today." — Kevin Randle, A Different Perspective