Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Where the Mail Goes Cream of Wheat Goes
Alternate Title(s):Rural Delivery
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1906
Dimensions:
44 1/4 × 37 7/8 in. (112.4 × 96.2 cm)
© The Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
Gift of the National Biscuit Company
http://www.artsMIA.org
Accession number: SUPP2000.109
Research Number: NCW: 109
InscribedLower right.: N. C. WYETH / 06
ProvenanceCream of Wheat Corporation, 1907-1961; National Biscuit Company, 1962-1970; gift to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1970
Exhibition HistoryChadds Ford, PA, 1972, no. 36; Brookings, SD, 1973, no. 1; Cody, WY, 1980, ps. 15, 57, and illus. plate 19
References
"Cream of Wheat's Cream," Fortune Magazine, vol. XIX, no. 1 (Jan. 1939), p. 79, illus. in color, p. 71; Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), p. 186; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 143, illus. b/w p. 144; Patricia Condon Johnston, "Artists of the Cereal Ads," Americana Magazine, Aug. 1982, color illus. p. 34; David Stivers, The Nabisco Brands Collection of Cream of Wheat Advertising Art (San Diego, CA: Collectors' Showcase, 1986), color illus. p. 29; James H. Duff, et al., An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1987), illus. b/w p. 13; Gene E. Harris, N. C. Wyeth's Wild West (Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine River Museum, 1990), p. 76 and illus. b/w p. 77 (ptng. removed from exhibition before opening); Michele H. Bogart, "Artistic Ideals and Commercial Practices: The Problem of Status for American Illustrators," published in Prospects: An Annual of American Cultural Studies, vol. 15 (1990), illus. b/w p. 256; Michele H. Bogart, Artists, Advertising, and the Borders of Art (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), ps. 56-58; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.2, p. 638
Curatorial RemarksIn November 1906, Wyeth assessed his progress on this commission, writing to his mother, "I'm well on with the second (of two paintings for Cream of Wheat] "The Mail Carrier" which I believe is the best piece of color work I ever was accused of...Carolyn...is extremely enthusiastic over the picture." The image was quickly reproduced, appearing in the Feb. 2, 1907 edition of Collier's Advertiser (see letter James P. Simpson to G. V. Thompson, Nov. 18, 1946). According to a 1939 article in Fortune Magazine, Wyeth was paid $800 for the commission.
The image was used in another advertising campaign in 1908, as evidenced by a comment Wyeth wrote in a letter of August 7, "The Cream of Wheat Company splurged my letter carrier on all the large-sized magazines this month...." The picture was one of the most popular of all the Cream of Wheat advertising images, still in use in 1918 (see Ladies' Home Journal, April, 1918; Needlecraft, April, 1918; Saturday Evening Post, April 6, 1918, The Youth's Companion," April 25, 1918, all collection Brandywine River Museum library). According to correspondence at the Brandywine River Museum, in about 1921 the Cream of Wheat Company distributed 30,000 "replicas" (24 x 16 inches) to the trade as window displays.These posters were made by the American Colortype Company and were at the time the largest four-color process reproductions ever made.Two sets of plates were used, one for the top half and one for the bottom half of the image (G. V. Thomson to NCW, Aug. 24. 1943, Wyeth Family Archives).;A 1955 letter from D. F. Bull, General Manager of the Cream of Wheat Corporation, mentions that several years before his death, the artist himself "retouched" this painting at the request of the company.
The image was used in another advertising campaign in 1908, as evidenced by a comment Wyeth wrote in a letter of August 7, "The Cream of Wheat Company splurged my letter carrier on all the large-sized magazines this month...." The picture was one of the most popular of all the Cream of Wheat advertising images, still in use in 1918 (see Ladies' Home Journal, April, 1918; Needlecraft, April, 1918; Saturday Evening Post, April 6, 1918, The Youth's Companion," April 25, 1918, all collection Brandywine River Museum library). According to correspondence at the Brandywine River Museum, in about 1921 the Cream of Wheat Company distributed 30,000 "replicas" (24 x 16 inches) to the trade as window displays.These posters were made by the American Colortype Company and were at the time the largest four-color process reproductions ever made.Two sets of plates were used, one for the top half and one for the bottom half of the image (G. V. Thomson to NCW, Aug. 24. 1943, Wyeth Family Archives).;A 1955 letter from D. F. Bull, General Manager of the Cream of Wheat Corporation, mentions that several years before his death, the artist himself "retouched" this painting at the request of the company.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital photography directly from painting
Photo Credit:Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts