Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Mallards in Autumn
Alternate Title(s):Mallard Ducks in Spring
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1941
Dimensions:
113 1/8 × 157 3/4 in. (287.3 × 400.7 cm)
Collection of MetLife, New York
Accession number: SUPP2000.446
Research Number: NCW: 446
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceCommissioned from NCW by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, 1985, no. 12
References
"The Days of the Pilgrims Live Again in Our Murals," The Home Office (publication of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.), vol. 23, no. 7 (Dec. 1941); N. C. Wyeth, Income Tax Notes for 1941 (unpublished, Brandywine River Museum Library); Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), b/w illustration p. 171 as "Mallard Ducks in Spring"; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), M.69, p. 630
Curatorial RemarksThis mural decorated an escalator landing. "The constantly moving throng by these spaces, the lifting approach on the escalator demanded something quite simple and yet with pleasing and complimentary motion. The notion embracing the spirit of flight struck me. I saw it in terms of birds, well known and romantic American birds. The sketches are still in a somewhat realistic state but my plan is to translate them in the final painting into flatter designs like patterns on a screen yet with a definite sense of naturalism" (undated draft of a letter, NCW to Arthur O. Angilly, Brandywine River Museum library).
In August 1941, NCW wrote, "The Autumn Duck panel is just completed. In fact, Ed Seal has just left the studio with a negative of it. It's come out well I think, and strikes a contrasting mood in the series of four. I am planning to ship them all by Thurdsay, and, I hope, will be able to supervise their placement on the walls next Tuesday" (NCW to Ann and John McCoy, dated by NCW "Studio / Sunday morning 10:30" and by another hand Aug. 3, 1941, Wyeth Family Archives). The Brandywine River Museum (NCW archives) holds an archival photograph taken by Seal; lantern slides (NCWS.95.1825.350-.359) of the drawing for this composition, used in the transfer from paper to canvas; and extensive correspondence between the artist and architect Arthur O. Angilly touching on all phases of the commission.
In the mid-1980s, the MetLife murals were removed from the walls of their original location at One Madison Avenue, New York, and placed on strainers. By 2009, this mural had been removed to MetLife's new corporate headquarters on Bryant Park.
In August 1941, NCW wrote, "The Autumn Duck panel is just completed. In fact, Ed Seal has just left the studio with a negative of it. It's come out well I think, and strikes a contrasting mood in the series of four. I am planning to ship them all by Thurdsay, and, I hope, will be able to supervise their placement on the walls next Tuesday" (NCW to Ann and John McCoy, dated by NCW "Studio / Sunday morning 10:30" and by another hand Aug. 3, 1941, Wyeth Family Archives). The Brandywine River Museum (NCW archives) holds an archival photograph taken by Seal; lantern slides (NCWS.95.1825.350-.359) of the drawing for this composition, used in the transfer from paper to canvas; and extensive correspondence between the artist and architect Arthur O. Angilly touching on all phases of the commission.
In the mid-1980s, the MetLife murals were removed from the walls of their original location at One Madison Avenue, New York, and placed on strainers. By 2009, this mural had been removed to MetLife's new corporate headquarters on Bryant Park.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Photo by: Malcolm Varon, NYC, copyright © 2007