Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
"I've seen him ride broncs that had piled the best of them, and as for roping--even the Mexican vaqueros have had to hand it to him more than once"
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1925
Dimensions:
30 1/4 × 52 1/4 in. (76.8 × 132.7 cm)
Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas
Accession number: SUPP2000.1192
Research Number: NCW: 1192
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined); Written directly on reverse of canvas, left side: March / Red + Black / 18", 16", 15", 12" (and one other number obscured by label), 4 sets blueprints / Please return / originals with / blueprints; written directly on reverse, right side: A Son of His / Father / To Carolyn / from papa / June 1, 1925; label adhered to reverse: (torn)NUAL EXHIBITION OF THE / (torn)IETY OF ILLUSTRATORS at the / (torn)enter, Inc., March 9 to March 21 / N. C. Wyeth / c/o McCalls Mag. / 236 W. 37th / "A Son of His Father"
ProvenanceThe artist; Carolyn Wyeth, 1925; (?); (Clay Lockett, Tucson, AZ, by 1950s); Collection of Clare Ellinwood, Tucson, AZ; Collection of Thomas and Ellen J. Ellinwood
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, The Art Center, Inc., "Annual Exhibition of the Society of Illustrators" March 9 - 21, 1925; Tyler, TX, Tyler Museum of Art, "The Wyeths Across Texas," no. 9, p. 58, illus. p. 59;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 264; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1013, p. 485
Curatorial RemarksThis painting was reproduced across two pages, a decision which necessitated slight differences in the printed image; for example, a horse tail, which would have fallen across the gutter from the horse's body, is seen in the printed image as only a faint shadow. A comparison with the illustration shows that narrow portions along the left and right edges of the original work that have been lost.
The painting was interpreted in pen and ink by Ruskin Williams for a McCall's Magazine advertisement which ran in the New York Times, March 10, 1925, p. 44.
The painting was interpreted in pen and ink by Ruskin Williams for a McCall's Magazine advertisement which ran in the New York Times, March 10, 1925, p. 44.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. photography directly from painting; 3. reverse of canvas; 4. detail of label on reverse
Photo Credit:1. Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas; 3-4, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Conservation Department, June, 2004 treatment