Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Venetian Masque, A Romance, dust-jacket illustration
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1934
Dimensions:
24 × 25 in. (61 × 63.5 cm)
Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on loan at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Accession number: SUPP2000.514
Research Number: NCW: 514
InscribedLower left: WYETH (underlined) / TO DAVID & VICTORINE BIDDLE from N. C. W. 1937; along tacking edge at bottom of canvas, lettering cut in half but still legible: RAPHAEL SABATINI
ProvenanceThe artist; David and Victorine Biddle, Wilmington, DE, 1937; descended in family; (Christie's, NY, Sept. 22, 1994, lot no. 149)
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972) p. 226; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1201, p. 546
Curatorial RemarksThe canvas originally included lettering above and below the image and partial lettering still exists on the taking edge at the bottom. The story was first published as "Hearts and Swords" in Liberty Magazine, with illustrations by a different artist. The first owners of the painting, David and Victorine Biddle, owned Geo. Hardcastle & Son, a frame shop and art supply shop in Wilmington, Delaware, where N. C. Wyeth purchased art materials and patronized the framemaker Frank Coll.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Courtesy of Christie's