Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Fight in the Peaks.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1912 / 1914
Dimensions:
40 1/8 × 32 in. (101.9 × 81.3 cm)
Private collection, DE
Accession number: SUPP2000.621
Research Number: NCW: 621
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH / 191_ (date in a different color from signature; last digit illegible, but possibly a "2" or "7"); adhered to backing board, Scribner's label: THIS COPYRIGHTED PICTURE...; adhered to backing board, typed label: Wyeth, N. C. #31692 / The Fight in the Peaks / Frontispiece / Feb. 1917. vol. LXI
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY; Lyman H. Howe, Wilkes Barre, PA; (?); Private collection, DE, and descended in family
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 277; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.461, p. 267
Curatorial RemarksAccording to a letter Scribner's editor Joseph H. Chapin wrote to Wyeth in July 1914, Scribner's held this painting on consignment, expecting a 25% commission on the minimum price of $150 in the event of sale (Joseph H. Chapin to NCW, July 27, 1914, Wyeth Family Archives). Since this was several years before the painting was reproduced in the magazine, it seems likely the painting was executed on speculation or for another commission. The empty area at the top of the design may suggest that it had been intended originally for a magazine cover, similar in composition to Popular Magazine cover images.
The Scribner's reproduction carried the following text below the image: The experience of a Norwegian locating engineer, on the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, who, being an experienced ski-runner, packed mail over the mountain before the railroad was completed.
Found among the papers in N. C. Wyeth's studio was the Scribner's Magazine reproduction with the inscription in ink "Oh you / Canadian / Mail Carrier / with one of Brother / Burleson's sacks on his / back. How about it Mr. Wyeth? / W. C. B. / Washington, DC." An arrow is drawn to the sack on the back of the figure.
The first owner, Lyman H. Howe, was an early filmmaker, active from 1912-1919.
The Scribner's reproduction carried the following text below the image: The experience of a Norwegian locating engineer, on the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, who, being an experienced ski-runner, packed mail over the mountain before the railroad was completed.
Found among the papers in N. C. Wyeth's studio was the Scribner's Magazine reproduction with the inscription in ink "Oh you / Canadian / Mail Carrier / with one of Brother / Burleson's sacks on his / back. How about it Mr. Wyeth? / W. C. B. / Washington, DC." An arrow is drawn to the sack on the back of the figure.
The first owner, Lyman H. Howe, was an early filmmaker, active from 1912-1919.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer, 9/15/1999