Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Through Pathless Skies to the North Pole
Alternate Title(s):Commander Byrd at the North Pole
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1927
Dimensions:
104 × 153 in. (264.2 × 388.6 cm)
National Geographic Society
Accession number: SUPP2000.996
Research Number: NCW: 996
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH / 1927
References
Special Color Supplement, National Geographic Magazine, vol. LIII, no. 5 (May 1928); illustration in blue tones (endsheet) and b/w p. 16, "An Invitation to Explore," souvenir publication of the National Geographic Society, Washington: 1933(?); Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), p. 725; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N.C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), ps. 162, 267; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), M.35, p. 613, 614
Curatorial RemarksWyeth laid out his initial idea for this decoration in a letter of early May, 1926: (For one of two panels presenting exploration by water and by air) "an aeroplane hovering over the remote lands of the upper Amazon maybe. The vision of looking down upon such a stirring prospect of winding river...and suspended in the clear air, the explorer's winged ship!! (NCW to John Oliver LaGorce, attached to letter dated by NCW May (?) 1926, National Geographic Society, Washington, DC). In the face of the publicity surrounding Richard E. Byrd's May 9, 1926 flight over the North Pole, the subject was changed, and Wyeth met with Byrd in New York in July in preparation for the decoration (Wyeth, ed., above). In a letter to his father dated March 14, 1927, the artist noted, "Will start the Byrd arctic decoration this week." By his April 4th letter, the canvas "was nearing completion," and by April 14th, the artist had returned from Washington having installed the piece to great acclaim (letters NCW to A. N. Wyeth, all Wyeth Family Archives).
The presentation painting for this mural, otherwise unknown, probably was exhibited in Wilmington in Nov. 1928. Number 104 in the catalogue (Wilmington, DE, 1928(3)) is described as "Color miniature of panel for Hubbard Memorial Building;" the association with this title comes from an exhibition review that notes "there are charming little canvases of the "airplane over ice," a panel for the Hubbard Memorial building..." ("Mural Painting Exhibition Opens," Wilmington (DE) Morning News, Nov. 15, 1928, p. 2).
The presentation painting for this mural, otherwise unknown, probably was exhibited in Wilmington in Nov. 1928. Number 104 in the catalogue (Wilmington, DE, 1928(3)) is described as "Color miniature of panel for Hubbard Memorial Building;" the association with this title comes from an exhibition review that notes "there are charming little canvases of the "airplane over ice," a panel for the Hubbard Memorial building..." ("Mural Painting Exhibition Opens," Wilmington (DE) Morning News, Nov. 15, 1928, p. 2).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital scan of printed image
Photo Credit:Web: BRM staff; Hardcover: Rick Echelmeyer, digital photography, 7/11/2006