Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
untitled (illustration for Back to the Farm)
Alternate Title(s):Bringing Home the Pumpkins; Old Man and Boy with Pumpkins; Pumpkins; The Harvest Moon
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1907
Dimensions:
38 × 26 7/8 in. (96.5 × 68.3 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.129
Research Number: NCW: 129
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined) / 07
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; (Knoedler Galleries, New York, NY, no. 54846); Mr. and Mrs. Curtis M. Hutchins, ca. 1972; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.206, p. 171
Exhibition HistoryProbably New York, NY, 1957, no. 24 as "Old Man and Boy with Pumpkins"; Harrisburg, PA, 1965, no. 54, as "Pumpkins"; Rockland, ME, 1966, no. 5, as "Old Man and Boy with Pumpkins"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1972, no. 45 as "Pumpkins"; Lewiston, ME, 1973
References
Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), p. 219; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 274, illus. in color p. 70 as "Bringing Home the Pumpkins"
Curatorial RemarksAccording to letters the artist wrote in August and September of 1907 he started this painting on the day his brother Stimson came to Chadds Ford for an extended visit, and finished it on the day his brother left, crediting Stimson's presence for his ability to complete it in about two weeks. Later in September, however, Wyeth wrote to his mother, " Tell old Babe that I am entirely repainting the "Pumpkin" picture and that it is hundreds of times better. As a piece of color and painting it is far superior to anything I ever did." The quality of the proofs, shown to the artist in June 1908, elicited this response, "I have never been bit so hard with poor reproductions before and feel that last summer's work is for naught at all." Wyeth sold second rights to the Coe-Mortimer Co. of New York, manufacturers of fertilizers. Coe-Mortimer published the image on their 1911 calendar (© 1910, Coe-Mortimer Co.) as "The Harvest Moon" (complete calendar measures 17 1/2 x 7 inches, BRMA Research Center, #44256).
In 1942, Wyeth proposed another version of this image as a cover for Progressive Farmer magazine. After the artist produced a sketch (NCW 2326), the idea was rejected by executives at the magazine and the sketch returned.
In 1942, Wyeth proposed another version of this image as a cover for Progressive Farmer magazine. After the artist produced a sketch (NCW 2326), the idea was rejected by executives at the magazine and the sketch returned.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. Transparency directly from painting; 2. digital photography from object
Photo Credit:1. J. R. Dykes, Photographer, 11/2002; BRM staff