Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Astrologer emptied the whole of the bowl into the bottle
Alternate Title(s):The Astrologer Pouring the Wine
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1916
Dimensions:
39 7/8 × 31 7/8 in. (101.3 × 81 cm)
Bank of America Merill Lynch Collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.180
Research Number: NCW: 180
InscribedUpper left: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; (?); Mr. Walter Rowlands II, by 1967; Private collection; (Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, NY, 1974-1975); Dr. James E. Crane, Stamford, CT, 1975-1988; (Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, NY); (?) ; Private collection, Green Village, NJ; MBNA America, Wilmington, DE, 2000 to 2005
Exhibition HistoryNeedham, MA, 1967, no. 11; Chadds Ford, PA, 1972, no. 80, as "The Astrologer Pouring the Wine"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1985; Chadds Ford, PA, 1987(2), no. 32, illus. in color p. 109; Rockland, ME, 1998, no. 77 p. 165, illustration in color p. 77; Paris, Mona Bismarck Foundation, "The Wyeths, Trois generations d'artistes americains," Nov. 10, 2011- Feb. 12, 2012, illus. in color, p. 77; Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum of Art, "Enchanted Castles and Noble Knights," Nov. 28, 2014-Jan. 4, 2015; Portland, OR, Portland Museum of Art, "The Wyeths: Three Generations, Works form the Bank of America Collection," Oct. 7, 2017-Jan. 28, 2018;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 201; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.639, p. 334, 335
Curatorial Remarks"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).
During an interview about his father's work and career, Andrew Wyeth commented on this painting. "A lot of his illustrations have still lifes set off at one side. He loved those,.... Look at the marvelous painting of the astrologer in "The Mysterious Stranger" who pours the wine out of that big bowl. Now that's a bowl that my mother used as a mixing bowl. I don't think I've ever seen a still life better than that bowl with that little sediment line showing the level of the wine that has been poured out." ("An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art," Boston: Little, Brown & Co. in association with the Brandywine River Museum, 1987, p. 84) The first documented owner of this painting, Walter Rowlands II, was the grandson of Walter B. Rowlands (1855-1945), a Needham native and one of several men involved in the publication of "The Pictorial Life of Benjamin Franklin, Printer..." (Dill & Collins, 1923) to which Wyeth contributed an illustration.
During an interview about his father's work and career, Andrew Wyeth commented on this painting. "A lot of his illustrations have still lifes set off at one side. He loved those,.... Look at the marvelous painting of the astrologer in "The Mysterious Stranger" who pours the wine out of that big bowl. Now that's a bowl that my mother used as a mixing bowl. I don't think I've ever seen a still life better than that bowl with that little sediment line showing the level of the wine that has been poured out." ("An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art," Boston: Little, Brown & Co. in association with the Brandywine River Museum, 1987, p. 84) The first documented owner of this painting, Walter Rowlands II, was the grandson of Walter B. Rowlands (1855-1945), a Needham native and one of several men involved in the publication of "The Pictorial Life of Benjamin Franklin, Printer..." (Dill & Collins, 1923) to which Wyeth contributed an illustration.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Brandywine River Museum photo files