Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Athene
Alternate Title(s):Athene, Daughter of Zeus
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1929
Dimensions:
dimensions unavailable
Location unknown
Accession number: SUPP2000.1775
Research Number: NCW: 1775
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH / © (from archival photograph)
ProvenanceThe artist to late 1930; Mrs. T. Whitney Blake, Katonah, NY, 1930-?
Exhibition HistoryBoston, MA, 1930, no. 15; Wilmington, DE, 1930(1), no. 2 as "Athene, Daughter of Zeus"
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 213; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1093, p. 512-513
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum holds an archival photograph of the composition drawn in charcoal on the canvas prior to the application of paint. The Wyeth Family Archives includes the copy of the book that N. C. Wyeth read and annotated in preparation for the commission, The Odyssey of Homer, translated by George Herbert Palmer, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1891. The book was found with notes about the commission in NCW's hand, a copy of a letter to Lovell Thompson of Houghton Mifflin dated August 3, 1929, Thompson's reply, dated August 7, 1929, and notes made by NCW for the Illustrator's preface.
In Dec. 1930, Wyeth wrote to Roger L. Scaife that he had sold the entire set of Odyssey paintings to "a Mrs. Blake of New York" who would keep them all together (NCW to RLS, Dec. 22, 1930, Houghton Library, Harvard University). Mrs. T. Whitney Blake's name occurs twice in the artist's address book (Brandywine River Museum, NCWS.95.1174).
In Dec. 1930, Wyeth wrote to Roger L. Scaife that he had sold the entire set of Odyssey paintings to "a Mrs. Blake of New York" who would keep them all together (NCW to RLS, Dec. 22, 1930, Houghton Library, Harvard University). Mrs. T. Whitney Blake's name occurs twice in the artist's address book (Brandywine River Museum, NCWS.95.1174).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. b/w photography directly from painting; 2. b/w archival photograph of composition drawing on canvas prior to paint application
Photo Credit:Both photos, Brandywine River Museum library