Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Sitter:
Henriette Wyeth
(American, 1907 - 1997)
Portrait of Henriette Wyeth
Alternate Title(s):Henriette; Portrait Study
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1922
Dimensions:
32 1/8 × 40 1/8 in. (81.6 × 101.9 cm)
Brandywine River Museum of Art, Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
Accession number: 96.1.23
Label Copy:
While N. C. Wyeth did several formal portraits as commissions (see Portrait of Philip Burnet, 2006.1), for his liveliest portraits he used his family (or himself) as models. This is the fifteen-year-old Henriette Wyeth; the fanciful floral background and the book held casually in her lap speak to her interests in floral painting and reading. Wyeth sent the portrait to an exhibition sponsored by the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in April 1924, where the local press commented on the "haunting color background for the portrait" (Wilmington, DE, Morning News, April 1, 1924, p. 4).
The portrait later appeared on the cover of The Ladies Home Journal (November 1924). On the editor's page, Barton Currie made only a brief reference to the portrait in the following: "Of all the artists we know of, Wyeth is one of the most liberally supplied with models in his own family. A beautiful wife and four beautiful children, the children ranging in age from five to fifteen, all very different in type, would seem to be the ideal for a painter's household. The girl on our November cover is one of the four, the only Wyeth so far to develop her father's great talent."
While N. C. Wyeth did several formal portraits as commissions (see Portrait of Philip Burnet, 2006.1), for his liveliest portraits he used his family (or himself) as models. This is the fifteen-year-old Henriette Wyeth; the fanciful floral background and the book held casually in her lap speak to her interests in floral painting and reading. Wyeth sent the portrait to an exhibition sponsored by the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in April 1924, where the local press commented on the "haunting color background for the portrait" (Wilmington, DE, Morning News, April 1, 1924, p. 4).
The portrait later appeared on the cover of The Ladies Home Journal (November 1924). On the editor's page, Barton Currie made only a brief reference to the portrait in the following: "Of all the artists we know of, Wyeth is one of the most liberally supplied with models in his own family. A beautiful wife and four beautiful children, the children ranging in age from five to fifteen, all very different in type, would seem to be the ideal for a painter's household. The girl on our November cover is one of the four, the only Wyeth so far to develop her father's great talent."
Research Number: NCW: 90
InscribedUpper left: N. C. WYETH / 1922
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1924, no. 1, as "Portrait Study"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1972, no. 6, as "Henriette"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1973(1); Kalamazoo, MI, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, "The Wyeths, America's Artists," Jan. 15-April 17, 2011; Doylestown, PA, James A. Michener Art Museum, 1/20/- 5/6/2018 (and Roswell, NM, Roswell Museum and Art Center, 6/15 - 9/16/2018), "Magical & Real, Henriette Wyeth and Peter Hurd," checklist, vol. 1, p. 106, and p. 5, illus. in color;
References
"Success of Art Exhibit Seen at Private Showing," (Wilmington, DE) Morning News, April 1, 1924, p. 4; Cover illustration in color, Ladies' Home Journal, vol. XLI, no. 11 (Nov. 1924), and p. 30; ___, "Wyeths by Wyeths," Town and Country Magazine, vol. 100, no. 4290 (Nov. 1946), detail p. 126; Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950, " unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 49; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 263; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), P.22, p. 807
Curatorial Remarks"The west wall was full of local interest...since it contained several portraits (including) N. C. Wyeth's portrait of his daughter Henriette... Mr. Wyeth has chosen a haunting color background for the portrait" (Wilmington, DE, Morning News, April 1, 1924, p. 4).
A small credit line under the reproduction of this painting on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal read simply, "Painted for the Ladies' Home Journal by N. C. Wyeth." On the editor's page, Barton Currie made scant reference to the portrait in the following: "Of all the artists we know of, Wyeth is one of the most liberally supplied with models in his own family. A beautiful wife and four beautiful children, the children ranging in age from five to fifteen, all very different in type, would seem to be the ideal for a painter's household. The girl on our November cover is one of the four, the only Wyeth so far to develop her father's great talent." One of the covers, trimmed and framed, was found in the Wyeth house in 2009; inscribed on the dustcover: Henriette Wyeth Hurd / age 15 years.
A small credit line under the reproduction of this painting on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal read simply, "Painted for the Ladies' Home Journal by N. C. Wyeth." On the editor's page, Barton Currie made scant reference to the portrait in the following: "Of all the artists we know of, Wyeth is one of the most liberally supplied with models in his own family. A beautiful wife and four beautiful children, the children ranging in age from five to fifteen, all very different in type, would seem to be the ideal for a painter's household. The girl on our November cover is one of the four, the only Wyeth so far to develop her father's great talent." One of the covers, trimmed and framed, was found in the Wyeth house in 2009; inscribed on the dustcover: Henriette Wyeth Hurd / age 15 years.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting