Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Dark and Bloody Ground
Alternate Title(s):Indian Scouts
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1932
Dimensions:
40 × 28 in. (101.6 × 71.1 cm)
Courtesy of Wells Fargo
Accession number: SUPP2000.713
Research Number: NCW: 713
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
Provenance(Newman Galleries, Philadelphia, PA, 1967-1972); (?); (Meinhard Galleries, Inc., Houston, TX, 1973); (Brandywine Galleries, Albuquerque, NM, 1974); Southern Arizona Bank and Trust, Phoenix, AZ, 1o 1975; (by corporate merger) First National Bank of Arizona; (by corporate merger) First Interstate Bank of Arizona
Exhibition HistoryTucson, AZ, First National Bank of Arizona, "Tucson Bicentennial Commemoration," Aug. 20 - Sept. 19, 1975; Sun City, AZ, Sun Cities Art Museum, "N. C. Wyeth, Remington and Russell," Jan. 10 - Feb. 3, 1988
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), ps. 152 and 293; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.79, p. 664
Curatorial RemarksCorrespondence indicates that the Lucky Strike advertising campaign "Nature in the Raw" was reproduced in magazines such as American Magazine, Country Life, House and Garden, McCall's, and Town & Country for Nov. and Dec. 1932 (M. V. Timlen, American Tobacco Co. to James P. Simpson, Aug. 20. 1946, Simpson Collection, Brandywine River Museum library). The difference between the size of the canvas and the detail reproduced for the Lucky Strike advertisement suggests that the painting might have been done originally for another purpose, or enlarged after reproduction to suit a private client. In 1925, the artist had used a similar composition for the endpaper design for The Deerslayer (NCW 1214).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. Photography directly from artwork; 2. detail of image as it appeared in original adverstisement (Brandywine River Museum library, tear sheet)
Photo Credit:1. Craig Smith, 6/2003; 2. BRM staff