Old Glory, Symbol of Liberty

Artist:

N.C. Wyeth

(American, 1882 - 1945)

Old Glory, Symbol of Liberty

Medium: Oil on hardboard (Renaissance Panel)
Date: 1942
Dimensions:
28 × 25 1/2 in. (71.1 × 64.8 cm)
Courtesy U. S. Naval Academy Museum
Accession number: SUPP2000.557
Research Number: NCW: 557
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined); adhered to reverse of panel, Renaissance Panel label, no. 1124, dated 8/17/42; written on panel label: # 9 / Old Glory, / Symbol of / Liberty; written on reverse of panel: # 11 (crossed out)
ProvenanceJohn Morrell & Company, Ottumwa, IA, to 1944; gift to the U. S. Naval Academy
References Annual Report, John Morrell & Co., Ottumwa, IA, 1943, cover illustration; John Van Duyn Southworth, Our Own United States (Syracuse, NY: Iroquois Publishing Co., 1953), frontispiece color illustration; Catalogue of Paintings (Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Academy, 1961), no. 223, p. 13; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 291; Shipmate Magazine (United States Naval Academy Alumni Association), July-Aug. 1980, cover illustration in color; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.157, p. 690
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum holds a lantern slide of the composition drawing for this image (NCWS.95.1825.140), used in the transfer of the image from paper to panel; and an archival photograph of the image annotated on the reverse in the artist's hand: 1 (circle) / This is the first picture / for a series of twelve on / the history of the American / flag./ "Coast Guard" -- and "The Alamo" / still to be done.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Greg Staley, 1/2006