Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
"But be at rest; the Black Arrow flieth nevermore"
Alternate Title(s):The Black Arrow Flieth Nevermore; Death of Sir Daniel; The Black Arrow Shall Flieth No More
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1916
Dimensions:
40 × 32 1/4 in. (101.6 × 81.9 cm)
The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.26
Research Number: NCW: 26
InscribedUpper right: N. C. WYETH (underlined); lower left: © C. S. S.
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, NY; [?]; Private collection, Winter Park, FL, to 1965
Exhibition HistoryBrooklyn, NY, 1920, no. 16, as "Death of Sir Daniel"; Philadelphia, PA, 1921; Harrisburg, PA, 1965, no. 85, as "The Black Arrow Flieth Nevermore"; Rockland, ME, 1966, no. 38, as "The Black Arrow Flieth Nevermore", illus. in b/w (unpaginated); Chadds Ford, PA, 1968, no. 1, as "The Black Arrow Shall Flieth No More"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1971, no. 71, illus. b/w p. 57; Chadds Ford, PA, 1972, no. 101; Brookings, SD, 1973, no. 14; Greenville, SC, 1974, no. 30; Chadds Ford, PA, 1976(1); Los Angeles, CA, The Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, UCLA, "The American Personality, The Artist-Illustrator of Life in the United States, 1860-1930," Oct. 12 - Dec. 12, 1976 (also Fort Worth, TX, Amon Carter Museum of Art, July 8 - Aug. 22, 1976), no. 266; Princeton, NJ, 1977, no. 21; Chadds Ford, PA, 1985; Chadds Ford, PA, 1990(1); Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum of Art, June 22-Sept. 15, 2019, "N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives," illus. p. 145
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 219; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.619, p. 328, 329
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum holds the unillustrated 1915 Scribner's edition of The Black Arrow which the artist read to prepare for this commission, with notes on the endsheets and markings throughout (NCWS.95.163).
"I spent some of the time in the [New York Public] library looking up medieval data concerning my forthcoming books...." (NCW to ANW, 2/26/1916, WFA). The artist wrote to his mother in early March 1916, "The medieval period is gradually drawing me down into its tremendous confusion of customs, costumes and its singular spirit. I feel all pent up with the crowding impressions of an age rich in picturesqueness but black with infamy. The history of those times is after all rather suffocating...my head is clogged with long-bows, spears, salets, doublets, mail, quarter-staffs, jousting bouts, ferries, skerries, and moats..." (WFA).
"I spent some of the time in the [New York Public] library looking up medieval data concerning my forthcoming books...." (NCW to ANW, 2/26/1916, WFA). The artist wrote to his mother in early March 1916, "The medieval period is gradually drawing me down into its tremendous confusion of customs, costumes and its singular spirit. I feel all pent up with the crowding impressions of an age rich in picturesqueness but black with infamy. The history of those times is after all rather suffocating...my head is clogged with long-bows, spears, salets, doublets, mail, quarter-staffs, jousting bouts, ferries, skerries, and moats..." (WFA).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Courtesy of MBNA