Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
American Legion Magazine, cover illustration
Alternate Title(s):A Cherished Memory; The Bixby Letter
Medium: Oil on hardboard (Renaissance Panel)
Date: 1943
Dimensions:
28 × 21 in. (71.1 × 53.3 cm)
Private collection, Springfield, IL
Accession number: SUPP2000.1204
Research Number: NCW: 1204
InscribedUpper left: N. C. WYETH; painted on reverse of panel: THE "BIXBY" LETTER (underlined) / by / N. C. WYETH (underlined); adhered along right side of reverse of panel, lower half of Renaissance Panel label, probably number 1199, dated 7/21/43, with the following written in NCW's hand: NOTICE / GESSO PANEL -- PAINTED / IN OIL -- USE NO / VARNISH OR VASELINE / N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; Private collection, Washington, DC, 1944- to at least 1972; (?); (Brandywine Galleries Ltd, Albuquerque, NM, 1975)
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 251; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1310, p. 588-589
Curatorial RemarksFrank Lisiecki, Art Director of the American Legion Magazine, proposed this subject to the artist in August, 1943; "What I had in mind was Lincoln writing letters by lamp light in the White House. The Civil War is on, and of course he is tired, overworked, and under a great strain. He wrote many famous letters, as you know..." The American Legion paid the artist $ 400 for "first rights," the right to reproduce the painting on the cover of American Legion Magazine before other clients had the opportunity to use it in other ways (Wyeth Family Archives, Frank Lisiecki to NCW, Aug. 18, 1943). Subsequently, additional "calendar" rights were sold for $1,000.00 to the Thomas D. Murphy Co. of Red Oak, Iowa; they reproduced the image with the title "A Cherished Memory" and the legend "© TDM Co." (Celia Medelsohn of American Artists to NCW, Feb. 24, 1944, Wyeth Family Archives).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Gregg Daniels, Daniels/Ackerman Photography