Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Captain Harding slays a convict
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1918
Dimensions:
40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm)
Brandywine River Museum of Art, Anonymous gift, 1989
Accession number: 89.23
Research Number: NCW: 461
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined) / ©CSS; on reverse on canvas, lower left: Copyright by Charles Scribners Sons; 1 label [Rockland, ME, 1966]: 41 CAPTAIN HARDING SLAYS A CONVICT / The Mysterious Island / Loaned by Mr. James A. T (illegible) Jr.; remnants of Scribner's label, in two halves: Captian Harding Slays a Convict / THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND / page 388 /. . .OPERTY OF CHARLES SCRIBNER /. . .ONS, AND IS TO BE RETURNED TO / THE . . . / IN GOOD CONDITION / from / SC . . .
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY (B14190); sold to E. S. Giberson, New York, NY, March 1920; (?); Mr. James A. Taylor, Jr., New Britain, CT, by 1966; (?); (Judy and Alan Goffman, Bluebell, PA); Private collection, NJ, to 1989
Exhibition HistoryRockland, ME, 1966, no. 41; poss. Chadds Ford, PA, 1976 (included on exhibition list but no loan agreement found); Morristown, NJ, 1983, no. 5; Chicago, IL, 1997, no. 17; Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum, "N. C. Wyeth's Collection of Firearms and Edged Weapons, " Jan. 23- May 17, 2009; Rockland, Maine, Farnsworth Art Museum, "Every Picture Tells a Story," April 27-Dec. 30, 2013;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 222; Brandywine River Museum, Catalogue of the Collection, 1969-1989 (Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine Conservancy, 1991), p. 206; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.723, p. 372
Curatorial RemarksWeaponry similar to the knife and gun depicted in the painting are included in Wyeth's studio collections. The convict fires an accurately rendered Sharps rifle (see NCWS.2005.1.6) and Captain Harding throws a knife similar to one (NCWS.2005.1.49) found in Wyeth's studio. (Both objects collection of the Brandywine River Museum).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting