Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Herring!
Alternate Title(s):Dark Harbor Fishermen; Dark Harbor Fisherman
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1935
Dimensions:
48 1/8 × 52 1/8 in. (122.2 × 132.4 cm)
The Phyllis and Jamie Wyeth Collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.955
Research Number: NCW: 955
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined); label adhered to stretcher at upper right in NCW's hand: Herring! / N C WYETH
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth to 1994 (with Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE, 1992);
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1935, no. 39, as "Dark Harbor Fisherman"; Utica, NY, 1938, as "Herring"; Rockland, ME, Farnsworth Art Museum, "N. C. Wyeth: Painter," May 21-Dec. 31, 2016;
References
"Exhibit by Delaware Artists Draws Throng," (Wilmington, DE) Morning News, Nov. 5, 1935, p. 15; Marshall Gantt, "Brush, Palette and Pencil," The News Journal (Wilmington, DE), NOv. 12, 1935, p. 9; "Exhibit of Wyeth Paintings Opens At Institute Today," Utica Daily Press, March 12, 1938, p. 14; Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950, " unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 91; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), L.191, p. 763; James D. Balestrieri, "Lesson in Form," American Fine Art Magazine, #28 (July/August 2016), illust. in color, ps. 90-91; Terry Teachout, "N. C. Wyeth's Deeper Aspirations," Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2016;
Curatorial RemarksIn 1943, the artist decided to redo this composition in tempera on panel (see NCW 335). NCW 1037 is a charcoal drawing that relates to both paintings but it is not clear when the drawing was done. Two lantern slides (NCWS.95.1825.236 and .237, Brandywine River Museum) were used in the process of transferring the design from canvas to panel. Even though this painting was first exhibited with the title of "Dark Harbor Fisherman," the title authority is based on the label in the artist's hand still adhered to stretcher.
Collector Elizabeth Noyce, who owned the tempera version of this painting, located a family descended from two of the fishermen whom the artist encountered as they unloaded their catch at a dock in Lincolnville, Maine, in the mid-1930s. Family members named three of the men pictured: Fred Dodge (standing in foreground); Fernie Barton (sitting); and Frankie Dyer (shoveling herring). The fourth figure is unknown and may have been added to enhance the composition.
An archival photograph (BRM library) shows the painting framed in an Arts & Crafts style frame with vines and leaves, probably made by the Wilmington carver Frank Coll.
Collector Elizabeth Noyce, who owned the tempera version of this painting, located a family descended from two of the fishermen whom the artist encountered as they unloaded their catch at a dock in Lincolnville, Maine, in the mid-1930s. Family members named three of the men pictured: Fred Dodge (standing in foreground); Fernie Barton (sitting); and Frankie Dyer (shoveling herring). The fourth figure is unknown and may have been added to enhance the composition.
An archival photograph (BRM library) shows the painting framed in an Arts & Crafts style frame with vines and leaves, probably made by the Wilmington carver Frank Coll.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:photography directly from artwork
Photo Credit:Courtesy of Jamie Wyeth