Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Captain Brown, Port Clyde, Maine
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1934
Dimensions:
42 3/16 × 48 in. (107.2 × 121.9 cm)
Brandywine River Museum of Art, Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
Accession number: 96.1.44
Label Copy:
A note in N. C. Wyeth’s hand identifies the subject of this painting as Captain Brown, but the figure appears to be more of an archetype of a salty New England fishermen. Scalloped wave forms, both near and far, transform the watery surroundings into sharp, sculpted surfaces. There is no attempt to disguise the brushwork of the foreground, which is left unblended and loose. Dark clouds build on each side of the solitary fisherman, creeping across the sky in an ominous and fantastic manner.
Research Number: NCW: 960
InscribedLower left: N C WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth
Exhibition HistoryChadds Ford, PA, 1995, no. 18, color illus. p. 21; Chadds Ford, PA, 2003; Chadds Ford, PA, Rural Modern, American Art Beyond the City, Oct. 29, 2016-Jan. 22, 2017, plate 58;
References
Richard Layton , "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950," unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 79; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), P.46, p. 821; Amanda C. Burdan, "Off the Beaten Path: Aspects of Rural Modernism" in Rural Modern, American Art Beyond the City (NY: Rizzoli, 2016), plate 58;
Curatorial RemarksThe title comes from an archival photograph, stamped "Sanborn Studio / Wil, Del.", with the following notation in the artist's hand: "Capt. Brown, Port Clyde, Me." In another hand is written "George Brown." The subject may be George Brown, who owned a dock in Port Clyde.
Contemporary photography influenced some of Wyeth's depictions of Maine fishermen. Images directly related to this painting are found in Men, Fish & Boats by Alfred Stanford (New York: Morrow, 1934, NCWS.95.1409), a compilation of photographs of North Atlantic fishermen at work, given by Carolyn B.Wyeth to her husband in June, 1934. Three of the photographs depict a solitary doryman from a similar close-up and oblique view, inviting comparison with this painting.
Contemporary photography influenced some of Wyeth's depictions of Maine fishermen. Images directly related to this painting are found in Men, Fish & Boats by Alfred Stanford (New York: Morrow, 1934, NCWS.95.1409), a compilation of photographs of North Atlantic fishermen at work, given by Carolyn B.Wyeth to her husband in June, 1934. Three of the photographs depict a solitary doryman from a similar close-up and oblique view, inviting comparison with this painting.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
On view