Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The storm on the Firth of Clyde
Alternate Title(s):The storm in the Firth of Clyde
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1921
Dimensions:
40 1/8 × 32 1/4 in. (101.9 × 81.9 cm)
Collection of Philip G. Lion
Accession number: SUPP2000.1386
Research Number: NCW: 1386
InscribedLower right: TO GEORGE GABRIEL / from (an arrow pointing to) N. C. WYETH (underlined); on reverse, written directly on canvas in red: 57887; written directly on canvas in black in NCW's hand: THE SHIP OF WILLIAM WALLACE (William Wallace underlined); written directly on canvas in blue: 6.; partial label (originally 3 1/2 x 5 3/16 in. from glue marks) adhered to canvas: FROM / (torn) SCRIBNER'S SONS / (torn)ENUE AT 48TH STREET / (torn)NEW YORK; second label adhered to canvas: B17392 vol. 1 Page 192 (note that this volume and page refers to NCWS.95.184) / Wyeth, N. C. (underlined) / "Scottish Chiefs" / The Storm in the Firth of Clyde. / THIS COPYRIGHTED (word blacked out) IS THE / PROPERTY OF CHARLES SCRIBNER'S / SONS (following is blacked out--AND IS TO BE RETURNED TO THEM / IN GOOD CONDITION.) / FROM / SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE / 153-157 FIFTH AVENUE / NEW YORK; along left stretcher member, written in NCW's hand: Mr Geo Gabriel / c/o Beck's Eng Co / 7th and (illegible) Philadelphia; label adhered to top frame member: DAVID SPITZ / 146 N 12TH ST. / PHILA., PA; as of 1998, all stretcher keys marked: PATD / FEB 13 / 1883 / JUNE 16 / 1885 / A. D. S.
ProvenanceThe artist (returned to him from Scribner's, 1/22/1923); George Gabriel; Mildred Gabriel Lion, by 1969 - 2000
Exhibition HistoryGreenville, DE, Somerville Manning Gallery, "N. C. Wyeth, Illustrations and Landscape Paintings," Oct. 13--Nov. 11, 2006, illus. (unpaginated); Greenville, DE, Somerville Manning Gallery, "N. C. Wyeth: Painter and Illustrator," June 14-Sept. 14, 2019;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 215; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.862, p. 423
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum of Art holds the edition of The Scottish Chiefs that the artist read in preparation for this commission, published by Thomas Crowell Company of New York (undated) and illustrated with photographs of Scotland (Brandywine River Museum library NCWS.95.184). The marking "Vol. 1 Page 192" (found on the Scribner's label on the reverse of the painting) references this edition, where the following passage is marked in pencil by the artist: "The sky collected into a gloom, and while the teeming clouds seemed descending, even to rest upon the cracking masts, the swelling of the ocean threatened to heave her up into their very bosoms." The painting gave the artist considerable problems and in a letter to Scribner's art editor Joseph H. Chapin, Wyeth wrote he was sending his second attempt (NCW to Joseph H. Chapin, dated June 1921, Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library).
NCW 2528 (BRMA, 96.1.560) may be an early composition sketch for the painting.
Wyeth was extremely concerned about the quality of the reproductions for this commission--he had generously used blue and green pigments throughout, difficult for printers to duplicate. For this commission, the plates were engraved by the Suffolk Engraving and Electrotyping Company (see Scribner's cards, Brandywine River Museum of Art) and printed by Bowker (NCW to Joseph Hawley Chapin, dated "Tuesday morning, 6:15" probably June, 1921, Archives of Charles Scribner's, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library).
The first owner of this painting was a lithographer who worked for the Beck Engraving Company, Philadelphia.
NCW 2528 (BRMA, 96.1.560) may be an early composition sketch for the painting.
Wyeth was extremely concerned about the quality of the reproductions for this commission--he had generously used blue and green pigments throughout, difficult for printers to duplicate. For this commission, the plates were engraved by the Suffolk Engraving and Electrotyping Company (see Scribner's cards, Brandywine River Museum of Art) and printed by Bowker (NCW to Joseph Hawley Chapin, dated "Tuesday morning, 6:15" probably June, 1921, Archives of Charles Scribner's, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library).
The first owner of this painting was a lithographer who worked for the Beck Engraving Company, Philadelphia.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital scan directly from artwork
Photo Credit:Courtesy of Somerville Manning Gallery