Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
All day he hung round the cove, or upon the cliffs, with a brass telescope
Alternate Title(s):Bill Bones on the Cliff; Captain Bill Bones; Captain Bones
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1911
Dimensions:
47 1/4 × 38 1/4 in. (120 × 97.2 cm)
Brandywine River Museum of Art, Bequest of Gertrude Haskell Britton, 1992
Accession number: 92.16.1
Label Copy:
In 1911, Scribner’s art editor Joseph Chapin offered N.C. Wyeth the opportunity to illustrate a new edition of Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure story. Within four months, Wyeth produced a set of 17 paintings that would ensure his reputation as one of the foremost illustrators of the period.
Wyeth’s genius partly lay in his ability to envision the characters he depicted. His Bill Bones, for example, looks to be of flesh and blood, truly capable of the piratical life Stevenson wrote for him. This figure, silhouetted above a rugged, misty seacoast, is haunting. Wyeth kept detail to a minimum, but he knew which details, such as the brass telescope, the cockaded hat, the swirling cloak, and gleaming buttons and shoe buckles, would be most effective when the image was reduced to 6 ½ x 5 ¼ inches, the size of the book illustration. For generations of readers, this is the very image of Bill Bones that comes to mind when Stevenson’s famous character is mentioned.
In 1911, Scribner’s art editor Joseph Chapin offered N.C. Wyeth the opportunity to illustrate a new edition of Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure story. Within four months, Wyeth produced a set of 17 paintings that would ensure his reputation as one of the foremost illustrators of the period.
Wyeth’s genius partly lay in his ability to envision the characters he depicted. His Bill Bones, for example, looks to be of flesh and blood, truly capable of the piratical life Stevenson wrote for him. This figure, silhouetted above a rugged, misty seacoast, is haunting. Wyeth kept detail to a minimum, but he knew which details, such as the brass telescope, the cockaded hat, the swirling cloak, and gleaming buttons and shoe buckles, would be most effective when the image was reduced to 6 ½ x 5 ¼ inches, the size of the book illustration. For generations of readers, this is the very image of Bill Bones that comes to mind when Stevenson’s famous character is mentioned.
Research Number: NCW: 16
InscribedLower left: N.C. WYETH (underlined) / © CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS; Scribner's label adhered to reverse of canvas: Wyeth, NC B1987 / Capt. Bill Bones-All day he hung / round the cove-- / Treasure Island-p. 4 / THIS COPYRIGHTED PICTURE IS THE PROPERTY OF CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS; adhesive residue suggests another label was attached to reverse of canvas
5 labels adhered to backing paper, 1: THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS / AND THE PHILADELPHIA WATER COLOR CLUB / TENTH ANNUAL / PHILADELPHIA WATER COLOR EXHIBITION, 1912 / (in N. C. Wyeth's hand) CAPTAIN BONES / N. C. WYETH / CHADDS FORD PA / 745 (stamped over label); 2, small gummed label: TR14220 / 87; 3, partial label: VIXSEBOXSE ART GALLERIES / Cleveland, Ohio; 4: Brandywine River Museum, 1971, exhibition label; 5, label clipped from Rockland, ME, 1966 catalogue and adhered to back of top member of frame: 18. BILL BONES ON THE CLIFF / Loaned by Mrs. B. Britton
5 labels adhered to backing paper, 1: THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS / AND THE PHILADELPHIA WATER COLOR CLUB / TENTH ANNUAL / PHILADELPHIA WATER COLOR EXHIBITION, 1912 / (in N. C. Wyeth's hand) CAPTAIN BONES / N. C. WYETH / CHADDS FORD PA / 745 (stamped over label); 2, small gummed label: TR14220 / 87; 3, partial label: VIXSEBOXSE ART GALLERIES / Cleveland, Ohio; 4: Brandywine River Museum, 1971, exhibition label; 5, label clipped from Rockland, ME, 1966 catalogue and adhered to back of top member of frame: 18. BILL BONES ON THE CLIFF / Loaned by Mrs. B. Britton
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY; Coburn Haskell, Cleveland, OH; Gertrude Haskell (Mrs. Brigham) Britton, Cleveland, OH, 1948-1992
Exhibition HistoryPhiladelphia, PA, 1912(2), no. 166, b/w illus. (unpaginated), as "Captain Bones"; Rockland, ME, 1966, no. 18, as "Bill Bones on the Cliff"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1971, no. 61, as "Captain Bill Bones"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1972, no. 53, as "Captain Bill Bones"; Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum, "N. C. Wyeth and His Grandson: A Legacy," Jan. 24 - March 29, 1998 (Chadds Ford venue only of Chicago, IL, 1997 and not included in checklist); Rockland, ME, 1998, no. 63 p. 164, color illus. p. 63; Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum, "N. C. Wyeth's Treasure Island: Classic Illustrations for a Classic Tale," Sept. 10- Nov. 20, 2011
References
___, "Art and Artists," The Philadelphia Press, Nov. 17, 1912, p. 10 (Sporting Section), illus. b/w (AAA microfilm, roll P55); John Lewis, The Twentieth Century Book, Its Illustration and Design (New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp, 1967and 2nd edition, 1984), illus. p. 204; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 218, color illus. p. 78; Susan E. Meyer, "N. C. Wyeth," American Artist Magazine, vol. 39, no. 391 (Feb. 1975), b/w illus. p. 40; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.332, p. 219; Jason Williams, "Competing Visions: The Alternate Wests of Elinor Pruitt Stewart and N. C. Wyeth," pub. in Western American Literature, vol. 44, no. 4 (Winter 2010), p. 374-375; Diego Cordoba, "N. C. Wyeth," in Illustrators Magazine (London: The Book Place), Autumn 2018, issue 23, illus. p. 12; David M. Lubin, "Hidden Cargo: Overlooked Dimensions of N. C. Wyeth's Treasure Island Illustrations" in Jessica May and Christine B. Podmaniczky, "N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives" (Brandywine River Museum of Art and Portland Museum of Art, 2019), p. 26, fig. 2;
Curatorial RemarksJust after the opening of the 10th Annual Water Color Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, an anonymous reviewer in the Philadelphia Press wrote "N. C. Wyeth's big figures "Captain Bones" and "Old Pew" of Stevenson's immortal Treasure Island have the punch that hits the attention of every visitor, no matter how much of a "skimmer" he may be."
In 1971, the Brandywine River Museum issued a reproduction of this painting which was sold until the stock ran out. The image area of that poster is 29 3/4 x 24 inches. The following information was published below the image: c 1971 Brandywine River Museum--All rights reserved / Published under the auspices of the Brandywine River Museum of the Tri-County Conservancy of the Brandywine, Inc. / Printed in U.S.A. by Triton Press Inc., New York City / N. C. Wyeth / Captain Bill Bones from Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson Scribner's Illustrated Classics 1911 (Medium: Oil on canvas 50 x 40 inches) Collection of Mrs. Brigham Britton.
In 2001, the image appeared on a .34 cent United States postage stamp. (First Day covers issued April 10, 2001 from Needham, Massachusetts)
In 1971, the Brandywine River Museum issued a reproduction of this painting which was sold until the stock ran out. The image area of that poster is 29 3/4 x 24 inches. The following information was published below the image: c 1971 Brandywine River Museum--All rights reserved / Published under the auspices of the Brandywine River Museum of the Tri-County Conservancy of the Brandywine, Inc. / Printed in U.S.A. by Triton Press Inc., New York City / N. C. Wyeth / Captain Bill Bones from Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson Scribner's Illustrated Classics 1911 (Medium: Oil on canvas 50 x 40 inches) Collection of Mrs. Brigham Britton.
In 2001, the image appeared on a .34 cent United States postage stamp. (First Day covers issued April 10, 2001 from Needham, Massachusetts)
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer, 1996
On view