Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Still Life with Tray
Alternate Title(s):Pottery and Apples; Still Life Study; Still Life with Apples
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1919
Dimensions:
32 1/4 × 40 in. (81.9 × 101.6 cm)
Brandywine River Museum of Art, Gift of Amanda K. Berls, 1980
Accession number: 80.3.35
Label Copy:
The importance of this still life may be gauged by the artist's decision to include a reproduction of it in his article "For Better Illustration," a polemic published in the November 1919 issue of Scribner's Magazine. Wyeth warned would-be illustrators to study from nature and objects, rather than adopt new "stunts," his term for the superficial effects devoid of substance and inspiration that he perceived in much illustrative work of the period. He kept still-life painting in his practice throughout his career and recommended it to other artists as an exercise to hone a sense of composition and color.
Wyeth kept an array of still-life objects in his studio, and the cream pitcher depicted here remains in the collection (Brandywine River Museum of Art, NCWS.95.80.3.35). Although the painting has always been called Still Life with Tray, the tray is really a Wedgewood ceramic platter (Brandywine River Museum of Art, NCWS.95.6633) that was found in Carolyn Wyeth's studio on the Wyeth property.
The importance of this still life may be gauged by the artist's decision to include a reproduction of it in his article "For Better Illustration," a polemic published in the November 1919 issue of Scribner's Magazine. Wyeth warned would-be illustrators to study from nature and objects, rather than adopt new "stunts," his term for the superficial effects devoid of substance and inspiration that he perceived in much illustrative work of the period. He kept still-life painting in his practice throughout his career and recommended it to other artists as an exercise to hone a sense of composition and color.
Wyeth kept an array of still-life objects in his studio, and the cream pitcher depicted here remains in the collection (Brandywine River Museum of Art, NCWS.95.80.3.35). Although the painting has always been called Still Life with Tray, the tray is really a Wedgewood ceramic platter (Brandywine River Museum of Art, NCWS.95.6633) that was found in Carolyn Wyeth's studio on the Wyeth property.
Research Number: NCW: 370
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined); On reverse, written across top stretcher member: CA 7304; typewritten label adhered to top stretcher: N. C. WYETH 54819 / "POTTERY AND APPLES" / Ex. No. 10; small label adhered to top stretcher: No. 67229 / PICTURE; label adhered to top frame member: No. 67229 / FRAME; large typewritten label adhered to top frame member: "Still Life" / by / NEWELL CONVERS WYETH / Loaned by Amanda K. Berls; small typewritten label adhered to top frame member: L69.16.ll / Berls; small label adhered to left stretcher member: No. 54819 / PICTURE; written on left frame member: #54819; on backing board, Coe Kerr Gallery label
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; (Knoedler Galleries, New York, NY, 1956-1965]; Amanda K. Berls, 1966 - 1980
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, 1957, no. 10 as "Pottery and Apples"; Harrisburg, PA, 1965, no. 105 (confirmed by installation photographs in Wyeth Family Archives), as "Still Life"; probably Southampton, NY, 1966, no numbers, as "Still Life"; New York, NY, Coe Kerr Gallery, " A Tribute to American Realism, The Collection of Amanda K. Berls and Ruth A. Yerion," Jan. 7-31, 1976, illus. as "Still Life with Apples," unpaginated; Chadds Ford, PA, 1980, no. 80, ps. 36, 63 and illus. on p. 34; Chadds Ford, PA, 1982, no. 44, illus. b/w p. 62; Newport News, VA, 2000
References
N. C. Wyeth, "For Better Illustration," Scribner's Magazine, vol. LXVI, no. 5 (November 1919), b/w illustration p.639, as "Still Life Study"; Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950, " unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 81; Brandywine River Museum, Catalogue of the Collection, 1969-1989 (Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine Conservancy, 1991), p. 214, b/w illustration p. 211; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), S.6, p. 785
Curatorial RemarksThe importance of this still life may be gauged by the artist's decision to include a reproduction of it in his article "For Better Illustration," a polemic published in the November 1919 issue of Scribner's Magazine. Wyeth warned would-be illustrators to study from nature and objects, rather than adopt new "stunts", his term for the superficial effects devoid of substance and inspiration that he perceived in much illustrative work of the period. The cream pitcher (NCWS.95.80.3.35) remains in the artist's studio collection (Brandywine River Museum of Art).
Although the painting has always been called "Still Life with Tray," the tray is actually a Wedgewood ceramic platter (Brandywine River Museum of Art, NCWS.95.6633) that was found in Carolyn Wyeth's studio on the Wyeth property.
Although the painting has always been called "Still Life with Tray," the tray is actually a Wedgewood ceramic platter (Brandywine River Museum of Art, NCWS.95.6633) that was found in Carolyn Wyeth's studio on the Wyeth property.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:No credit on transparency