Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Giant
Alternate Title(s):The Sea Giant
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1923
Dimensions:
72 × 60 in. (182.9 × 152.4 cm)
Westtown School, Westtown, Pennsylvania
Accession number: SUPP2000.86
Research Number: NCW: 86
InscribedLower left: N. C. Wyeth / 1923
ProvenanceCommissioned by Westtown School class of 1910 as gift to the school
Exhibition HistoryNeedham, MA, 1923; West Chester, PA, 1923; Wilmington, DE, 1923, no. 18; Philadelphia, PA, 1924; possibly Wilmington, DE, 1928(3), no. 110; Harrisburg, PA, 1965, no. 25, illustration in color (unpaginated); Chadds Ford, PA, 1972, no. 1; Greenville, SC, 1974, no. 99; Chadds Ford, PA, 1978, illustration in blue tones on cover of exhibition brochure; Morristown, NJ, 1983, no. 7; Portland, ME, 2000, illustration in color, fig. 18, p. 30
References
"Art Reception at Normal School," (West Chester, PA) Daily Local News, Nov. 13, 1923, p. 6; untitled and unattributed review of Philadelphia, PA, 1924, Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 20, 1924, as "The Sea Giant"; "The Giant," Ladies Home Journal, vol. XL, no. 7 (July 1923), illustration in color p. 14; Henry C. Pitz, "N. C. Wyeth," American Heritage Magazine, vol. XVI, no. 6 (Oct. 1965), illustration p. 36; Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), p. 697, illustration in color f. p. 704; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 161, illustration in color p. 18; Kate F. Jennings, N. C. Wyeth (New York: Brompton Books Corp., Crescent Books, 1992), illustration in color on cover and p. 76; Stephen T. Bruni, et al., Wondrous Strange: The Wyeth Tradition-Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, James Wyeth (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1998), p. 166, illustration in color p. 87; David Michaelis, N. C. Wyeth A Biography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998), illustration in color after p. 308; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), M.14, p. 602-604
Curatorial RemarksDavid Michaelis links this image to a description of a tremendous ice storm that occurred in Needham, MA, in Dec. 1921, just after the artist had moved there with his family. An account in a local newspaper described the effect of the storm on the trees "as if a giant striding over the town had swung a scythe" (page 285). The painting was most likely done in Needham, where it was first exhibited.
William Clothier Engle, from Newark, NJ, was a member of Westtown School's class of 1910. He died from tuberculosis in 1916. The Giant was commissioned by his classmates as a memorial. Engle was an art student and knew N. C. Wyeth. Letters indicate that Engle probably spent a part of the summer of 1912 with the Wyeths, studying with NCW (NCW to HZW, "I have no apologies..." and dated in another hand 9/13/1912, Wyeth Family Archives).
It is not clear whether The Giant or a smaller version of it, perhaps the presentation painting, was exhibited at the WSFA in 1928 (Wilmington, DE, 1928(3)). The exhibition brochure lists number 110 as "The Giant. Painted for Westover (sic) School, Pennsylvania," but a review of the exhibition describes the "charming little canvas...of The Giant" ("Mural Painting Exhibition Opens," Wilmington, DE, Morning News, Nov. 15, 1928, p. 2).
William Clothier Engle, from Newark, NJ, was a member of Westtown School's class of 1910. He died from tuberculosis in 1916. The Giant was commissioned by his classmates as a memorial. Engle was an art student and knew N. C. Wyeth. Letters indicate that Engle probably spent a part of the summer of 1912 with the Wyeths, studying with NCW (NCW to HZW, "I have no apologies..." and dated in another hand 9/13/1912, Wyeth Family Archives).
It is not clear whether The Giant or a smaller version of it, perhaps the presentation painting, was exhibited at the WSFA in 1928 (Wilmington, DE, 1928(3)). The exhibition brochure lists number 110 as "The Giant. Painted for Westover (sic) School, Pennsylvania," but a review of the exhibition describes the "charming little canvas...of The Giant" ("Mural Painting Exhibition Opens," Wilmington, DE, Morning News, Nov. 15, 1928, p. 2).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Brandywine River Museum photo files