Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Bounty Trilogy, dust-jacket illustration
Medium: Oil on hardboard (Renaissance Panel)
Date: 1940
Dimensions:
10 3/8 × 11 3/4 in. (26.4 × 29.8 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.1713
Research Number: NCW: 1713
Inscribedpainted on reverse of panel in artist's hand: N. C. WYETH / --JACKET-- / THE "BOUNTY" TRILOGY; adhered to reverse of panel, partial Renaissance Panel label, no. 699, dated 8/11/38
ProvenanceThe artist; Arthur F. Williams, West Newton, MA, to 1952; descended in family
References
N. C. Wyeth, Income tax notes for 1940 (unpublished, Brandywine River Museum library); Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 213; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1291, p. 582
Curatorial RemarksOnly the lower half of a Renaissance Panel label, oriented ninety degrees to the right of the top of the painting, is extant along a ragged right edge, indicating that this panel was cut down, perhaps even reused. Arthur F. Williams was an art director at Little, Brown & Company. It is not clear whether Williams acquired the painting from Little, Brown or from the artist directly.
The Brandywine River Museum holds the copy of Pitcairn's Island (NCWS.95.604) that Wyeth read in preparation for the commission, which includes a typed copy of his initial illustrative program for the Bounty trilogy.
The Brandywine River Museum holds the copy of Pitcairn's Island (NCWS.95.604) that Wyeth read in preparation for the commission, which includes a typed copy of his initial illustrative program for the Bounty trilogy.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. photography directly from artwork (detail showing artwork only, not complete panel); 2. detail of reverse, showing fragment of Renaissance Panel label
Photo Credit:1 and 2: Sandy Agrafiotis