Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
title unknown (man and woman on porch, with Port Clyde harbor in background)
Medium: Charcoal on canvas
Date: 1930 / 1935
Dimensions:
47 1/2 × 51 1/2 in. (120.7 × 130.8 cm)
The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.1105
Research Number: NCW: 1105
InscribedOn verso, canvas stamp on proper right border: PERMALBA PRIMED / WEBER CANVAS / HQ119
ProvenanceThe artist
Curatorial RemarksThis charcoal drawing on primed canvas is a good example of the way the artist worked at the end of his career. Using charcoal, he would carefully draw in great detail on the support, and then add color. A lantern slide (NCWS.95.1825.239, Brandywine River Museum of Art) of the canvas shows that the design was drawn with a heavy hand and most likely some of the darker charcoal outlines would have been incorporated into the final painting.
The sitters have been identified as Rodney and Lida Davis of Port Clyde (Brandywine River Museum catalogue raisonne files). Davis was a lobster fisherman whose expertise Wyeth often sought. He also made sails and ship models; at least one model by him remains in N. C. Wyeth's studio in Chadds Ford (NCWS.95.1527, Brandywine River Museum). The view is accurate in the representation of the Davis house, and geographically correct; from foreground to background the islands on the left are Raspberry, Little Raspberry and Hupper's; Teel Island and Caldwell's Island are at the horizon. Davis's sloop "Venus" is depicted in the harbor. In 2000, the piece was sent to conservator Joyce Hill Stoner for treatment, and at that time, Andrew Wyeth made a sketch of the composition to identify places in the view.
The sitters have been identified as Rodney and Lida Davis of Port Clyde (Brandywine River Museum catalogue raisonne files). Davis was a lobster fisherman whose expertise Wyeth often sought. He also made sails and ship models; at least one model by him remains in N. C. Wyeth's studio in Chadds Ford (NCWS.95.1527, Brandywine River Museum). The view is accurate in the representation of the Davis house, and geographically correct; from foreground to background the islands on the left are Raspberry, Little Raspberry and Hupper's; Teel Island and Caldwell's Island are at the horizon. Davis's sloop "Venus" is depicted in the harbor. In 2000, the piece was sent to conservator Joyce Hill Stoner for treatment, and at that time, Andrew Wyeth made a sketch of the composition to identify places in the view.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Photography directly from canvas, 1/20/2000
Photo Credit:Courtesy of Joyce Hill Stoner