Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Summer Night
Alternate Title(s):A Summer Night
Medium: Tempera on hardboard
Date: 1942
Dimensions:
22 1/8 × 36 15/16 in. (56.2 × 93.8 cm)
Mr. and Mrs. Michael M. Massie
Accession number: EL5-2008.1
Research Number: NCW: 365
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined); on reverse of panel: EGG TEMPERA PAINTING / N. C. WYETH / 1942 / SUMMER NIG; two (Knoedler's) labels: NO. 54099 FRAME and NO. 54099 PICTURE; tacked to frame, partial label of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with inscription in NCW's hand: N. C. WYETH / CHADDS FORD-PA / UMMER (sic) NIGHT / TEMPERA; on top batten that reinforces panel: 32 -- 37
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth, 1946; Mrs. Irene du Pont, 1946; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. J. Bruce Bredin, to 2007
Exhibition HistoryPhiladelphia, PA, 1943, no. 14; Wilmington, DE, 1943, no. 26 (winner of "The Prize for Painting"); West Chester, PA, Chester County Art Association, "Spring Show," June 5-10, 1944; New York, NY, 1946, no. 8; Wilmington, DE, 1946, no. 10, illus. in color; Chadds Ford, PA, 1982, no. 46, illus. b/w p. 45, see also p. 35; Chadds Ford, PA, 1992; Chadds Ford, PA, 2002(1)
References
"Outstanding Entries Feature Art Exhibit," (West Chester, PA) Daily Local News, June 5, 1944, ps. 1 and 2; Ernest W. Watson, "N. C. Wyeth / Giant on a Hilltop," American Artist, vol. 9, no. 1 (Jan. 1945), illus. in color p. 18 (and detail p. 19), see also p. 19 for NCW's own words regarding incident depicted in painting; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), ps. 174, 178, illustration in color p. 181; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), L.220, p. 774, 775
Curatorial RemarksThis is a rendering in tempera of an oil on canvas composition Wyeth painted ca. 1935 (NCW 1473). On two separate occasions discussing his father's tempera work, Andrew Wyeth stated that this painting was done in pure tempera. There is an extant composition drawing (NCW 1736, Brandywine River Museum, 96.1.530); a lantern slide used in the transfer of the design from paper to panel (Brandywine River Museum, NCWS.95.1825.247); and a sheet of related sketches (NCW 2068, Brandywine River Museum 96.1.543). The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth collection includes a study drawing for the calf (NCW 2198).
An accout of the specific incident depicted in Summer Night and the goals Wyeth hoped to achieve were published in the January 1945 issue of American Artist. The Brandywine River Museum holds an early draft of these comments, in which the artist concluded, "Many times have I attempted to express the mood of this impressive experience in pattern and color....The painting was made entirely from memory, which is customary of every thing(sic) I do." Despite the fact that Wyeth did much of his commissioned work on commercially prepared Renaissance Panels, this is a "home-made" panel; in the American Artist article he noted "The preparation of a gesso panel is an exacting performance. I make most of my own panels which are of whiting and glue built upon sheets of pressed wood" (p. 19).
In late 2007 the painting was treated by conservator Joyce Hill Stoner, who found evidence that the panel had been cut down along the bottom edge after the image had been painted. Stoner feels that the notation on the batten, "32 -- 37", may indicate the original size of the panel.
An accout of the specific incident depicted in Summer Night and the goals Wyeth hoped to achieve were published in the January 1945 issue of American Artist. The Brandywine River Museum holds an early draft of these comments, in which the artist concluded, "Many times have I attempted to express the mood of this impressive experience in pattern and color....The painting was made entirely from memory, which is customary of every thing(sic) I do." Despite the fact that Wyeth did much of his commissioned work on commercially prepared Renaissance Panels, this is a "home-made" panel; in the American Artist article he noted "The preparation of a gesso panel is an exacting performance. I make most of my own panels which are of whiting and glue built upon sheets of pressed wood" (p. 19).
In late 2007 the painting was treated by conservator Joyce Hill Stoner, who found evidence that the panel had been cut down along the bottom edge after the image had been painted. Stoner feels that the notation on the batten, "32 -- 37", may indicate the original size of the panel.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Brandywine River Museum photography files