Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
On Christmas Night by Bethlehem Town
Alternate Title(s):Shepherds and the Heavenly Hosts
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1924
Dimensions:
40 7/8 × 35 5/16 in. (103.8 × 89.7 cm)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch Collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.1113
Research Number: NCW: 1113
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined); on reverse, on canvas, upper right: PROPERTY OF / DAVID HILLEGAS / WILMINGTON - DEL.; on stretcher: print only 9 1/2 deep including black around (illegible) / black frame as per sample on (illegible) / J 5729
ProvenanceThe artist; gift to David Hillegas; descended in family; (Christie's, New York, NY, Nov. 29, 2000, lot no. 126); MBNA America, Wilmington, DE, 2000 - 2005
Exhibition HistoryPortland, OR, Portland Museum of Art, "The Wyeths: Three Generations, Works form the Bank of America Collection," Oct. 7, 2017-Jan. 28, 2018;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 263; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.988, p. 474, 475
Curatorial RemarksThis image also appeared on the cover of a "Sacred Art Calendar" for calendar year 1932, with approximately one third more image area at the bottom. Titled "Shepherds and Heavenly Hosts," the additional image area depicts a pool of water reflecting the scene above. The addition may not be by the artist but the extreme vertical format of the calendar design necessitated it. The image is copyrighted by the Curtis Pulishing Company, the calendar itself copyrighted 1930 by the Messenger Pub. Co. of Chicago. On the reverse of the calendar, there is a short biography of N. C. Wyeth, including the following. "...Mr. Wyeth came early in life under the influence of Edward Everett Hale as his Sunday School Teacher, who made Bible study intensely interesting, with a romantic background that stands vividly forth in all of Mr. Wyeth's religious paintings, giving them a real spirit of life."
David Hillegas was a personal friend of the artist (NCW to David Hillegas Feb. 8, 1927, Wyeth Family Archives).
David Hillegas was a personal friend of the artist (NCW to David Hillegas Feb. 8, 1927, Wyeth Family Archives).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. photography from painting; 2. Sacred Art Calendar for 1932, (© 1930 Messenger Pub. Co. Chicago, IL), Brandywine River Museum library
Photo Credit:1. Courtesy of Christie's, 8/2000