Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Magic Fire Spell
Alternate Title(s):An interpretation of The Fire Music, from "Die Walkure"; Brunnhilde and Wotan; Illustrating Wagner's Fire Music
Medium: Oil on canvas adhered to hardboard
Date: 1928
Dimensions:
36 × 48 in. (91.4 × 121.9 cm)
Mr. & Mrs. Louis "Bo" Polk, Wapiti, WY
Accession number: SUPP2000.689
Research Number: NCW: 689
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceSteinway & Sons, New York, NY, to 1985; CBS Inc., New York, NY, 1985-1997; (Sotheby's, New York, NY, June 6, 1997, lot no. 248)
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1928(2), no. 56, as "Illustrating Wagner's Fire Music" (winner of $100 prize offered by Mrs. Joseph Bancroft)
References
(Wilmington, DE) Morning News, "Mrs. O. H. Peets Wins Prize for Best Painting / Award for Illustration at Delaware Artists' Exhibition to N. C. Wyeth," Oct. 11, 1928, p. 1; Music Notes / Book Five (New York: Silver Burdett & Co., 1930), illus. p. 16; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 295; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.67, p. 660
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum holds four libretti of Wagner operas found in the artist's studio, including the libretto for Die Walkure (see NCWS.95.789).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Jay York, 4/2002