Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Next to me was a girl who looked about eighteen. On the other side was an old fellow with a long gray beard.
Alternate Title(s):It Was a Rough Ride
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1929
Dimensions:
41 1/2 × 35 3/4 in. (105.4 × 90.8 cm)
American Illustrators Gallery, New York, NY
Accession number: SUPP2000.462
Research Number: NCW: 462
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth; Private collection, Chadds Ford, PA; Private collection, and descended in family; (Sotheby's, New York, NY, lot no. 159, Dec. 4, 2002); (Sotheby's, New York, NY, lot no. 204, May 19, 2004)
Exhibition HistoryChadds Ford, PA, 1990(2), illustration in b/w p. 85, cat. no. 52 p. 86 as "It was a Rough Ride," see also p. 76
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 279; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1129, p. 524
Curatorial RemarksWyeth originally portrayed the beared rider with a whiskey bottle held in his raised right hand, as described in Yancey Cravat's account of the land grab. There is no indication of who removed the bottle and at what date.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. transparency directly from painting; 2. painting as published in "Woman's Home Companion," showing bearded rider holding liquor bottle
Photo Credit:Transparency, BRM photo files, no credit given