Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Blind Beggar on the Isle of Mull
In about half an hour of walk, I over took a great, ragged man, moving pretty fast but feeling before him with a staff
Medium: Oil on canvas adhered to hardboard
Date: 1913
Dimensions:
39 3/16 × 31 7/8 in. (99.5 × 81 cm)
The New York Public Library
Accession number: SUPP2000.1024
Research Number: NCW: 1024
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined) / © CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1913-1916
Exhibition HistoryPhiladelphia, PA, 1914, no. 1029; Pittsburgh, PA, 1919; Philadelphia, PA, 1921; Rockland, ME, 1966, no. 31
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 219; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.472, p. 274
Curatorial RemarksNotes and insertions found in Wyeth's copy of "Bonnie Scotland Painted by Sutton Palmer" by A. R. Hope Moncrieff (A. & C. Black, 1912), suggest that the artist used this book (NCWS.95.608) as a visual resource for the Kidnapped paintings.
The artist noted in a letter that he was present when "ten of my originals (were) installed permanently, in the children's reading room of the New York Public Library on Fifth Ave" (NCW to Andrew Newell Wyeth, dated in another hand Feb. 26, 1916, Wyeth Family Archives).
At least some of Wyeth's paintings in the collection of the New York Public Library must have needed remedial treatment, for in 1940 the artist offered to "clean and back them" (Helen A. Masters, NYPL, to NCW, Jan. 20, 1940, Wyeth Family Archives); it is likely that the hardboard support on this painting was applied by Wyeth himself.
The artist noted in a letter that he was present when "ten of my originals (were) installed permanently, in the children's reading room of the New York Public Library on Fifth Ave" (NCW to Andrew Newell Wyeth, dated in another hand Feb. 26, 1916, Wyeth Family Archives).
At least some of Wyeth's paintings in the collection of the New York Public Library must have needed remedial treatment, for in 1940 the artist offered to "clean and back them" (Helen A. Masters, NYPL, to NCW, Jan. 20, 1940, Wyeth Family Archives); it is likely that the hardboard support on this painting was applied by Wyeth himself.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital photography directly from painting
Photo Credit:Paul Mutino Photography, 7/25/2006