Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
"A termagant wife may, therefore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so, Rip Van Winkle was thriced blessed."
Alternate Title(s):A Termagant Wife; Rip Van Winkle Leaving
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1921
Dimensions:
40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm)
Private Collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.782
Research Number: NCW: 782
InscribedLower left: WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; (?); (Mannados Book Shop, New York, NY, to 1954); (Knoedler Galleries, New York, NY, 1954 to 1958); Mr. W. J. Hopwood, Winnipeg, Canada; descended in family; (?); (J. N. Bartfield Galleries, New York, NY, 1985); Collection of Robert and Carolyn Wohlsen, to 1999; (Schoonover Studios Ltd., Wilmington, DE, 1999); Private collection; (Frank E. Fowler, 2000); Cawley Family, to 2006; (Christie's, New York, NY, Nov. 30, 2006, lot no. 168)
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, 1957, no. 90; Chadds Ford, PA, 1985; Lancaster, PA, Steinman College Center, Franklin and Marshall College, "A Collector's Choice: Selections from a Private Collection of Mixed Media," Oct. 3-24, 1985; Chadds Ford, PA, 1987(1), checklist p. 27; Lititz, PA, 1991; Roanoke, VA, 1991; Japan (3 venues), American Illustrators Gallery (organizer), "The Great American Illustrators," 1993, color illustration p. 36, no. 15 p. 125 as "A Termagant Wife"; Lititz, PA, 1995; Chicago, IL, 1997, no. 35
References
"The Greatest Illustrator," Time, vol. LXX, no. 21 (Nov. 18, 1957), p. 95 as "Rip Van Winkle Leaving"; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 207; John Chambless, "In the Footsteps of N. C. Wyeth," (West Chester, PA) Daily Local News, May 21, 1995, "Chester County Living" section, p. 7; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.849, p. 417
Curatorial RemarksAt the age of 80, Ann Wyeth McCoy recalled posing for the little girl in this picture: "I must have been very young, because I remember my father taking his hand and very gently pulling my fingers around the handle (of the basket)..." (Chambless, above)
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer, 3/2000