Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
"On waking he found himself on the green knoll whence he had first seen the old man of the glen"
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1921
Dimensions:
40 1/4 × 30 1/4 in. (102.2 × 76.8 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.812
Research Number: NCW: 812
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; Hotel Roosevelt (United Hotels Company of America), New York, NY, by Oct. 1924; (Mannados Book Shop, New York, NY, to 1954); (Knoedler Galleries, New York, NY, 1954 - late 1950s); (?); Collection of James Khoury, Amarillo, TX; Frances McKee Hays, El Paso, TX, to 1992; (?); Collection of John Edward Dell; (Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE, ca. 1995)
Exhibition HistoryPhiladelphia, PA, 1921; West Chester, PA, 1923; New York, NY, 1957, no. 91; Lubbock, TX, 1959
References
"Art Reception at Normal School," (West Chester, PA) Daily Local News, Nov. 13, 1923, p. 6; W. L. Cook, "Furniture for the New Hotel," National Hotel Review, Hotel Roosevelt Section (New York: Gehring Publishing Co., Oct. 25, 1924), p. 48; "Stouthearted Heroes of a Beloved Painter," Life Magazine, vol. 43, no. 24 (Dec. 9, 1957), detail illustration in color p. 94-95; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 207; John Edward Dell, ed., Visions of Adventure, N. C. Wyeth and the Brandywine Artists (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2000), illustration in color p. 103; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.853, p. 419
Curatorial RemarksAccording to a letter written to his father, the images of old Rip Van Winkle were inspired by his memories of "Captain Onion," a Civil War veteran who had lived across the Charles River from the Wyeth property in Needham, MA (NCW to Andrew Newell Wyeth, dated in another hand July 28, 1921, "It is singular that I have been using my memory of old Mr. Onion for the last pictures of Rip Van Winkle..." Wyeth Family Archives).
The artist retained this painting for several years and then took the opportunity to sell it to the Hotel Roosevelt in New York City. In 1924, a special section of the National Hotel Review (Brandywine River Museum, NCWS.95.819) carried a picture of the painting hanging "along the gallery toward the ball room."
The artist retained this painting for several years and then took the opportunity to sell it to the Hotel Roosevelt in New York City. In 1924, a special section of the National Hotel Review (Brandywine River Museum, NCWS.95.819) carried a picture of the painting hanging "along the gallery toward the ball room."
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. photography directly from artwork; 2. "Along the gallery toward the ballroom," NCW 812 as it hung in The Hotel Roosevelt, New York, ca. 1924
Photo Credit:1. Peter Goldberg, 9/2006; 2. (photo from p. 48, The National Hotel Review, Hotel Roosevelt Section, Oct. 25, 1924, NCWS.95.819)