Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Sea Monster
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1922
Dimensions:
16 × 26 3/8 in. (40.6 × 67 cm)
Private collection, CA
Accession number: SUPP2000.1001
Research Number: NCW: 1001
InscribedLower right: W (dot under each point)
ProvenanceJohn Oliver La Gorce, by mid 1930s; National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, to 2012; National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, to 2012; (New York, NY, Christie's, Dec. 6, 2012, lot no. 11)
References
"An Invitation to Explore," souvenir book of the National Geographic Society, ca. 1933(?), p. 8; Gilbert Grosvenor, "The National Geographic Society and Its Magazine," National Geographic Magazine, vol. LXIX, no. 1 (Jan. 1936), p. 156; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 290; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.55, p. 656
Curatorial RemarksThe motif recalls Wyeth's 1915 work for the Submarine Grill in the Hotel Traymore, Atlantic City, New Jersey (NCW 2406) and a 1917 billboard design for Navy recruiting (NCW 2378). In a circa 1936 publication of the National Geographic Society, the painting is shown hanging on the wall in a photograph of the workroom of John Oliver La Gorce, the Society's Vice President.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Photography directly from artwork
Photo Credit:National Geographic Image Collection