Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Thoreau and Miss Mary Emerson
Medium: Oil on hardboard (Renaissance Panel)
Date: 1936
Dimensions:
37 3/4 × 28 3/4 in. (95.9 × 73 cm)
Purchased by the Concord Free Public Library from the Samuel Hoar Fund, 1947
Accession number: SUPP2000.877
Research Number: NCW: 877
Inscribedadhered to reverse of panel, Renaissance Panel label no. 438 dated 5/18/36; written on top frame member: 21 / (upside down) 28 1/8 x 37 1/8; written on bottom frame member: 38 13/16
ProvenanceMrs. N. C. Wyeth; purchased by the Library Corporation, 1947 (Legacy of Samuel Hoar)
Exhibition HistoryUtica, NY, 1938; Lincoln, MA, DeCordova Museum, "Henry David Thoreau as a Source for Artistic Inspiration," June 6 - Sept. 9, 1984, cat. no. 30 p. 51, illus. p. 31, text p. 30; Concord, MA, Concord Museum, N. C. Wyeth's Men of Concord, April 15 - September 18, 2016, ps.40, 41;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 220; Allen French, T. Morris Longstreth and David B. Little, A History of the Concord Free Public Library (Concord, MA: The Library Corporation, 1973), pg. 20; Leslie Perrin Wilson, N. C. Wyeth, Thoreau and Men of Concord, The Concord Saunterer, New Series vol. 8 (2000), p. 78, illus. b/w p. 79; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1210, p. 550
Curatorial RemarksIn November 1935, the artist wrote to Ira Rich Kent of Houghton Mifflin to request a pictorial reference for Mary Emerson. Kent responded that a silhouette, published in Thoreau's Journals, was the only known image, a copy of which was what the artist presumably received in late January 1936 (see letters dated Nov. 20, 1935, NCW to IRK; Dec. 4, 1935 , IRK to NCW; Jan. 22, 1936, secretary to IRK to NCW, all Houghton Library, Harvard University). The wing chair, "Boston" rocker, and pedestal table were probably modeled after pieces in the Wyeth household.
The Brandywine River Museum holds two lantern slides made from the composition drawing for this painting (NCWS.95.1825.112 and .113). Originally the painting was slightly larger, with a white border of approximately 1 5/8 inches around the image. The border has been cut away, probably by a former owner.
The Brandywine River Museum holds two lantern slides made from the composition drawing for this painting (NCWS.95.1825.112 and .113). Originally the painting was slightly larger, with a white border of approximately 1 5/8 inches around the image. The border has been cut away, probably by a former owner.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:digital image directly from artwork
Photo Credit:Anderson Photo, Concord, MA