Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
First came the bride, a sorry sight, as pale as the winter, clinging to Sir Daniel's arm
Alternate Title(s):The Wedding
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1916
Dimensions:
40 × 32 in. (101.6 × 81.3 cm)
Private collection, Charleston, SC
Accession number: SUPP2000.796
Research Number: NCW: 796
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1916, to at least 1925 (loaned 1925 -1927 to Free Public Library, Glen Ridge, NJ); Private collection, NJ, and descended in family, including collection of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Hall, 1966); (Barridoff Galleries, Portland, ME, July 11, 1981, lot no. 85); Private collection, CA; (Frank E. Fowler, 1988)
Exhibition HistoryBrooklyn, NY, 1920, no. 19 as "The Wedding"; Rockland, ME, 1966, no. 36; Memphis, TN, 1983, no. 27 on p. 94, illus. in color p. 78
References
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.616, p. 327
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum holds the unillustrated 1915 Scribner's edition of The Black Arrow which the artist read to prepare for this commission, with notes on the endsheets and markings throughout (NCWS.95.163).
"I spent some of the time in the [New York Public] library looking up medieval data concerning my forthcoming books...." (NCW to ANW, 2/26/1916, WFA). The artist wrote to his mother in early March 1916, "The medieval period is gradually drawing me down into its tremendous confusion of customs, costumes and its singular spirit. I feel all pent up with the crowding impressions of an age rich in picturesqueness but black with infamy. The history of those times is after all rather suffocating...my head is clogged with long-bows, spears, salets, doublets, mail, quarter-staffs, jousting bouts, ferries, skerries, and moats..." (WFA).
"I spent some of the time in the [New York Public] library looking up medieval data concerning my forthcoming books...." (NCW to ANW, 2/26/1916, WFA). The artist wrote to his mother in early March 1916, "The medieval period is gradually drawing me down into its tremendous confusion of customs, costumes and its singular spirit. I feel all pent up with the crowding impressions of an age rich in picturesqueness but black with infamy. The history of those times is after all rather suffocating...my head is clogged with long-bows, spears, salets, doublets, mail, quarter-staffs, jousting bouts, ferries, skerries, and moats..." (WFA).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:photography from artwork
Photo Credit:Courtesy of MBNA