Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Answer of the Skies
Alternate Title(s):Man's Aspiration to Conquer the Skies
Date: 1929
Dimensions:
dimensions unavailable
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.1878
Research Number: NCW: 1878
ProvenanceEdward S. Evans, Detroit, MI, 1931
References
Color cover, D'A'C (Detroit Athletic Club) News, April 1931, "Reproduced by courtesy of the owner, Edward S. Evans"; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 270; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1127, p. 523
Curatorial RemarksThis image was originally published in Redbook Magazine accompanied by the text of verse 37 from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: "Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate / I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate, / And many a Knot unravell'd by the Road; / But not the Master-knot of Human Fate." A year later, the painting was reproduced with a different title, "Man's Aspiration to Conquer the Skies," that more aptly reflected the interest of the first owner. Col. Edward S. Evans, a wealthy Detroit entrepreneur, was an early patron of soaring and a founder of the National Glider Association.;
Contacted by Ken Boyle of Detroit Athletic Club in April 2012; painting is still unlocated from Club's perspective.
Contacted by Ken Boyle of Detroit Athletic Club in April 2012; painting is still unlocated from Club's perspective.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital scan from printed image (detail)
Photo Credit:Brandywine River Museum staff