Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The First Cargo
Alternate Title(s):The Saxons; The Saxon Invaders; The Coming of Hengist and Horsa
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1910
Dimensions:
47 × 38 in. (119.4 × 96.5 cm)
The New York Public Library
Accession number: SUPP2000.156
Research Number: NCW: 156
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1910-1916
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1912, no. 51, as "The Saxons"; Haverhill, MA, 1913; poss. Harrisburg, PA, 1965 (according to records of NYPL but not listed in catalogue); Chadds Ford, PA, 1972, no. 78, as "The First Cargo"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1976(1); Chadds Ford, PA, 1987(2), no. 7, color illustration p. 89
References
Clarence Marsh Case, The Banner of the White Horse (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916), frontispiece illus. in color; Wilbur Fisk Gordy, American Beginnings in Europe (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925), p. 153, as "The Saxon Invaders"; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 275, color illustration p. 124; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.319, p. 215; Diego Cordoba, "N. C. Wyeth," in Illustrators Magazine (London: The Book Place), Autumn 2018, issue 23, illus. p. 20
Curatorial RemarksNCW wrote to his mother Dec. 27, 1909, "Was called to N.Y. Friday and met Conan Doyle. Am to paint three pictures to illustrate important writings of his to appear in Aug. Scribner's. He suggested I do them." The paintings NCW did, this and three others, appeared in issues dated Nov. and Dec. 2010 and Jan. 2011.
This painting was one of three the artist chose to represent his work in the first exhibition of paintings by pupils of Howard Pyle, held in Wilmington, DE, in 1912, as "The Saxons," a title which originates with the Conan Doyle text. An annotated exhibition brochure indicates that the painting was for sale at the time for $300 (Brandywine River Museum library). The Scribner's file card (Brandywine River Museum library, Scribner's archives, #27914) lists the price as $175--a profit of $125 for the artist.
The artist noted in a letter that he was present when "ten of my originals (were) installed permanently, in the children's reading room of the New York Public Library on Fifth Ave." (NCW to ANW, dated in another handFeb. 26, 1916)
This painting was one of three the artist chose to represent his work in the first exhibition of paintings by pupils of Howard Pyle, held in Wilmington, DE, in 1912, as "The Saxons," a title which originates with the Conan Doyle text. An annotated exhibition brochure indicates that the painting was for sale at the time for $300 (Brandywine River Museum library). The Scribner's file card (Brandywine River Museum library, Scribner's archives, #27914) lists the price as $175--a profit of $125 for the artist.
The artist noted in a letter that he was present when "ten of my originals (were) installed permanently, in the children's reading room of the New York Public Library on Fifth Ave." (NCW to ANW, dated in another handFeb. 26, 1916)
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:transparency directly from artwork
Photo Credit:Peter Ralston, www.pralston.com