Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The story of the battle upon the tumbling decks of the Nathan Ross was to be retold at many a gam upon the whaling-grounds.
Alternate Title(s):The Fight With the Harpoons
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1919
Dimensions:
32 × 40 in. (81.3 × 101.6 cm)
Private collection, CA
Courtesy of James Graham and Sons, New York, NY
Accession number: SUPP2000.1150
Research Number: NCW: 1150
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth (with Knoedler Galleries, New York, NY, 1956, # 54796, and # S 3993); Dr. Thomas A. McGraw, New York, NY; (Parke-Bernet Galleries, March 16, 1967, lot no. 89, Estate of Dr. McGraw); (?); [James Graham & Sons, New York, NY]; Private collection, New York; [New York, NY, Doyle, "Impressionist and Modern Sale," May 3, 2016, lot no. 110];
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, 1957, no. 49, as "The Fight with the Harpoons"; Richmond, VA, 1958
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 258; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.789, p. 396
Curatorial RemarksThe unfinished painting on the reverse of the canvas clearly has a World War I theme. Adhesive residue marking the position of a missing label in the upper left of the makes it clear the unfinished painting was a discarded design--the artist flipped the canvas, restrected it and painted the Everybody's image on the clean side. To date, no archival material suggests what the discarded commission might have been.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency from painting
Photo Credit:Courtesy of James Graham and Sons, New York, NY