Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Harbor at Herring Gut
Alternate Title(s):Port Clyde--An Impression
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1925
Dimensions:
43 × 48 1/8 in. (109.2 × 122.2 cm)
The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.951
Research Number: NCW: 951
InscribedLower right (barely legible): WYETH (underlined, possibly dated); prior to canvas lining: drawing marks on reverse and partial label of the F. Weber Co., Philadelphia
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1925(3), no. 22; Philadelphia, PA, 1926, no. 123, b/w illustration (unpaginated); Chadds Ford, PA, 1995, no. 1, color illustration p. 23; Rockland, ME, 2001; Chadds Ford, PA, 2003; Burlington, VT, Shelburne Museum, "Wyeth Vertigo," June 22-Oct. 31, 2013, illus. p. 19, see also p. 25; Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum of Art, June 22-Sept. 15, 2019 (and Portland, ME, Portland Museum of Art, Oct. 4, 2019-Jan. 12, 2020, and Cincinnati, OH, Taft Museum, Feb. 8-May 3, 2020), "N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives," illus. ps. 168-169
References
"Artists' Work on Show at Library," (Wilmington, DE) Every Evening, Nov. 11, 1925, p. 9; Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950," unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 95; Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), ps. 707-708; Stephen May, "N. C. Wyeth's Midlife Masterpieces," Down East Magazine, vol. 42, no. 4 (Nov. 1995), color illustration across ps. 60-61; David Michaelis, N. C. Wyeth, A Biography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998), p. 301; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), L.153, p. 749-750
Curatorial RemarksTwo weeks after the death of his mother, the artist wrote to his father in reference to this painting, "I believe it marks an important epoch in my painting--with one lash I have cut my moorings to certain old habits and feel free now to develop along a much larger line....I feel that the intensity of the past weeks with you and Mama played a tremendous part in sustaining my courage to carry on this work" (NCW to ANW, Aug. 27, 1925, Wyeth Family Archives). The painting, strikingly different than previous work, incorporates many of the principles expounded by Christian Brinton, friend and art critic who collected Russian folk art. The clear, intense colors, the strong element of fantasy caused by the intentional distortion of scale, and the naivete associated with folk art may be the result of Brinton's influence. Despite the element of fantasy, Mosquito Head, the Marshall Point Light, several distinctive buildings in Port Clyde and the steam boat "Governor Douglas" are all recognizable. An anonymous reviewer for the Wilmington newspaper Every Evening saw the influence of 19th century bird's eye views.
The 1926 PAFA exhibition was judged by Gifford Beal, Daniel Garber, Rockwell Kent and W. Elmer Schofield. Wyeth reported that the comment on his picture was "mostly favorable," which inspired him "to go further in this new direction..." (NCW to ANW, Feb. 1, 1926). A frame list wirtten by NCW which hung on the studio wall (NCWS. 95.6537, Brandywine River Museum) indicates that Wyeth may have exhibited the picture in a Newcomb-Macklin frame that is no longer with the painting nor in the studio collection.
;In an undated letter to friend Edward K. Robinson, Wyeth wrote, "I am working much more intensively than ever and really believe that I am pulling into an idiom of expression that will amount to something...I am enclosing three photos of three canvases done in the past year which slightly indicate my direction....You will perhaps recognize a "composite" or inventory of Port Clyde. (This canvas has stirred considerable interest in two different shows.)" (NCW to Ed. K. Robinson, undated, privately held.) The letter contained a photograph of "The Harbor at Herring Gut," on the reverse of which Wyeth had written "Port Clyde--An Impression."
The 1926 PAFA exhibition was judged by Gifford Beal, Daniel Garber, Rockwell Kent and W. Elmer Schofield. Wyeth reported that the comment on his picture was "mostly favorable," which inspired him "to go further in this new direction..." (NCW to ANW, Feb. 1, 1926). A frame list wirtten by NCW which hung on the studio wall (NCWS. 95.6537, Brandywine River Museum) indicates that Wyeth may have exhibited the picture in a Newcomb-Macklin frame that is no longer with the painting nor in the studio collection.
;In an undated letter to friend Edward K. Robinson, Wyeth wrote, "I am working much more intensively than ever and really believe that I am pulling into an idiom of expression that will amount to something...I am enclosing three photos of three canvases done in the past year which slightly indicate my direction....You will perhaps recognize a "composite" or inventory of Port Clyde. (This canvas has stirred considerable interest in two different shows.)" (NCW to Ed. K. Robinson, undated, privately held.) The letter contained a photograph of "The Harbor at Herring Gut," on the reverse of which Wyeth had written "Port Clyde--An Impression."
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Brandywine River Museum photography file