Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Mexican Greaser.
Alternate Title(s):The Mexican Greaser and His Sheep; Mexican Shepherd
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1908
Dimensions:
28 1/8 × 37 1/4 in. (71.4 × 94.6 cm)
Courtesy of Wells Fargo
Accession number: SUPP2000.320
Research Number: NCW: 320
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined) / -08
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth to 1953; (Brandywine Galleries, Albuquerque, NM, 1953); Lewis W. Douglas, for Southern Arizona Bank and Trust, Phoenix, AZ, 1953 - 1975; (by corporate merger) First National Bank of Arizona; (by corporate merger) First Interstate Bank of Arizona, to 1996
Exhibition HistoryPhiladelphia, PA, 1909, no. 579 as "Mexican Greaser and His Sheep"; Harrisburg, PA, 1965, no. 50, as "Mexican Shepherd"; Tucson, AZ, First National Bank of Arizona, "Tucson Bicentennial Commemoration," 20 Aug. 20 - Sept. 19, 1975; Phoenix, AZ, 1982, cat. no. 5, illus. b/w p. 17; Tucson, AZ, Tucson Museum of Art, "Arizona Collects the West," 5 Oct. 5 - Dec. 12, 1983; Sun City, AZ, Sun Cities Art Museum, "N. C. Wyeth, Remington, and Russell," Jan.10 - Feb. 3, 1988; Chadds Ford, PA, 1990(2), p. 76, no. 29 on p. 82
References
Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), ps. 275, 276; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 275, illus. b/w p. 50; James Duff, The Western World of N. C. Wyeth, (Cody, WY: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 1980), p. 16; Rosemary Holusha, "The Douglas Art Collection," Arizona Highways Magazine, vol. 56, no. 11 (Nov. 1980), illus. in color p. 40; Kate F. Jennings, N. C. Wyeth (New York: Brompton Books Corp., Crescent Books, 1992), ps. 24-25; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.261, p. 191.
Curatorial RemarksIn a letter of Oct. 9, 1908 the artist described this painting as "a striking composition (with) unusual opportunities to develop. It will be hard on account of the herd of sheep in the foreground, reflections in broken water, etc. but believe I can pull it into something better than usual." After working on the painting, he reported (Oct. 16, 1908), "One could hardly recognize (it) as mine, so different in the color arrangement and general technicalities." (letters, Wyeth Family Archives). NCW 206 is a related drawing of the shepherd.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Craig Smith, Photographer, 6/2003