Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The World's First Reaper, Public Test of Cyrus McCormick's Invention, Steele's Tavern, Virginia, 1831
Alternate Title(s):McCormick's Reaper; Public Test of the World's First Reaper
Date: ca. 1930
Dimensions:
dimensions unavailable
painting destroyed by fire, 1960
image use courtesy of Navistar International Corporation
Accession number: SUPP2000.1648
Research Number: NCW: 1648
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined, from reproduction)
ProvenanceInternational Harvester Company; destroyed by fire
References
George E. Freeland, et al., America's Building, The Makers of Our Flag (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1937), illus. p. 223; Leonard O. Packard, et al., The Nations Today, A Physical, Industrial and Commercial Geography (New York: Macmillan, 1939), b/w illus. p. 58; William H. Clark, Farms and Farmers, The Story of American Agriculture (Boston: L. C. Page & Co., 1945), frontispiece, as "McCormick's Reaper"; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), illus. b/w p. 149, see also text p. 152; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.74, p. 662
Curatorial RemarksOne of N. C. Wyeth's pictorial sources for this painting was an advertising lithograph which depicted virtually the same scene, published by the McCormick Harvesting Machine Corporation in 1883. Found in the artist's studio were Herbert N. Casson's 1908 publication "The Romance of the Reaper (NCWS.95.27) and thirty-two black and white photographs, stills from "Romance of the Reaper," a 1929 film produced by International Harvester in anticipation of the company's centennial celebration in 1931 (Brandywine River Museum library).
N. C. Wyeth's image appeared in many textbooks, some published as late as the 1950s. The painting was hanging in the Chappaqua, NY, home of a retired International Harvester executive when the house burned in February 1960.
N. C. Wyeth's image appeared in many textbooks, some published as late as the 1950s. The painting was hanging in the Chappaqua, NY, home of a retired International Harvester executive when the house burned in February 1960.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. Transparency from artist's proof, Brandywine River Museum library; 2) Motion picture still found in N. C. Wyeth's studio, one of 32 from "Romance of the Reaper," a ca. 1929 film produced by International Harvester in anticipation of 100th anniversary of the first public test of the McCormick Reaper (Brandywine River Museum library); 3. "The Testing of the First Reaping Machine Near Steele's Tavern, Va. A.D.1831," archival photograph found in N. C. Wyeth's studio of 1883 advertising lithograph published by the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company (Brandywine River Museum Library)
Photo Credit:1. Rick Echelmeyer; 2. and 3. Photographer unknown