Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Last of the Mohicans, cover illustration
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1919
Dimensions:
26 × 31 3/4 in. (66 × 80.6 cm)
Brandywine River Museum of Art, Anonymous gift, 1981
Accession number: 81.18.1
Label Copy:
In this painting and in most of Wyeth’s other depictions of Native Americans, the artist’s depiction of body paint and other tribal signs and symbols was mostly drawn from print sources which proliferated in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Illustrators who consulted these sources—invariably published by non-native artists and authors—in order to make paintings that were then reproduced, often perpetuated inaccurate imagery and shaped a particular view of native culture.
Originally this painting was of the same size (roughly 40 x 32 inches) and vertical orientation as other paintings from Wyeth’s Last of the Mohicans series. The image would have had space on the canvas for a title block. Wyeth often would cut down a cover illustration after its reproduction to remove the title block in the hopes of making the painting more attractive to buyers.
In this painting and in most of Wyeth’s other depictions of Native Americans, the artist’s depiction of body paint and other tribal signs and symbols was mostly drawn from print sources which proliferated in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Illustrators who consulted these sources—invariably published by non-native artists and authors—in order to make paintings that were then reproduced, often perpetuated inaccurate imagery and shaped a particular view of native culture.
Originally this painting was of the same size (roughly 40 x 32 inches) and vertical orientation as other paintings from Wyeth’s Last of the Mohicans series. The image would have had space on the canvas for a title block. Wyeth often would cut down a cover illustration after its reproduction to remove the title block in the hopes of making the painting more attractive to buyers.
Research Number: NCW: 46
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, to at least June, 1946 (but with Mannados Bookshop, New York, NY, Feb. 1941); Clifton Waller Barrett, Charlottesville, VA, ?-1970 (and with Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1968-1970); Private collection, Greenville, DE, 1970-1981
Exhibition HistoryBrookings, SD, 1973, no. 17; Bridgeport, CT., 1974, no. NC 1; Princeton, NJ, 1977, no. 26; Wilmington, DE, 1981; Morristown, NJ, 1983, no. 6; Cedar Rapids, IA, 1990; Chadds Ford, PA, 2005
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 201; Brandywine River Museum, Catalogue of the Collection, 1969-1989 (Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine Conservancy, 1991), p. 210; National Endowment for the Humanities, Picturing America project, 2008 (http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/); Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.746, p. 380-381; Diego Cordoba, "N. C. Wyeth," in Illustrators Magazine (London: The Book Place), Autumn 2018, issue 23, illus. p. 16
Curatorial RemarksIn preparation for this commission, the artist read and marked an edition published by A. L. Burt (Brandywine River Museum of Art, NCWS.95.4334). Wyeth visited Glens Falls, and in addition to photographs he took of the locale, he also may have used stereoption cards as image resources. Six cards depicting scenery in Glens Falls were found in his studio.
Originally this painting was of the same size (roughly 40 x 32 inches) and vertical orientation as other paintings from Last of the Mohicans. Canvas wrapped around the edges of the present stretcher shows the orange margin that borders the printed image, proof that the painting was restretched at one time. Archival material verifies that the painting was one third again as high. In a letter to Scribner's art director Joseph Chapin (dated "Chadds Ford / Sunday-", Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library), Wyeth referred to "the gold panel," clearly a reference to the title block. He reminded Chapin that the same gold had been used around the figure on the King Arthur title page, a comment that provides archival evidence as to the appearance of the now missing title block.
Originally this painting was of the same size (roughly 40 x 32 inches) and vertical orientation as other paintings from Last of the Mohicans. Canvas wrapped around the edges of the present stretcher shows the orange margin that borders the printed image, proof that the painting was restretched at one time. Archival material verifies that the painting was one third again as high. In a letter to Scribner's art director Joseph Chapin (dated "Chadds Ford / Sunday-", Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library), Wyeth referred to "the gold panel," clearly a reference to the title block. He reminded Chapin that the same gold had been used around the figure on the King Arthur title page, a comment that provides archival evidence as to the appearance of the now missing title block.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting