Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Nothing would escape their black, jewel-like, inscrutable eyes.
Alternate Title(s):The Guardians; War or Peace?
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1911
Dimensions:
46 7/8 × 37 7/8 in. (119.1 × 96.2 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.382
Research Number: NCW: 382
InscribedAlong bottom, left of center: N. C. WYETH (underlined); on reverse: Kennedy Galleries label
ProvenancePossibly collection of Gouverneur Morris, 1911 - 1953; (Edward Eberstadt & Sons, New York, NY, 1954 through early 1973, as "War or Peace?"); (Kennedy Galleries, New York, 1973, as "The Guardians"); Warner Collection, Gulf States Paper Corporation, Tuscaloosa, AL; (Spanierman Gallery, New York, NY); (J. N. Bartfield Galleries, New York, NY, 1999); Private Collection, 1999-2021; (Christie's, New York, NY, May 18, 2021, lot no. 223);
Exhibition HistoryAlbany, GA, 1981, no. 9; Sylacauga, AL, Sylacauga Art Museum, Feb. 24 - March 24, 1982; Montgomery, AL, Montgomery Art Museum, Nov 1983 - Jan. 1984; Jacksonville, FL, Cummer Gallery of Art, Sept. 14 - Nov. 11, 1984; Chadds Ford, PA, 1987(2), cat. no. 10, p. 200, illus. in color p. 93; South Bend, IN, South Bend Art Center, "American Masterpieces from the Warner Collection," Dec. 9, 1989 - Feb. 4, 1990; Chadds Ford, PA, 1990(2), illus. in color p. 22, cat. no. 40 p. 83; Indianapolis, IN, Eiteljorg Musuem of American Indian and Western Art, "American Traditions: Art from the Collections of Culver Alumni," Dec. 12, 1993 - March 6, 1994; Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum, "Art of the American West from a Private Collection," Sept. 5 - Nov. 23, 2003;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 259, illus. b/w p. 49; Kate F. Jennings. N. C. Wyeth (New York, NY: Brompton Books Corp., Crescent Books, 1992), illus. in color p. 32; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.353, p. 233; Anson M. Beard, Jr., A Life in Full Sail (Cambridge, MA: Tide Pool, Ltd., 2012), p. 375;
Curatorial RemarksIt is likely that the first owner of this painting was Gouverneur Morris. The artist wrote to his mother "Have you seen my Indian pictures in Harper's for November? The author has asked to buy both -- appears that he was highly pleased with them" (NCW to "Dear Folks," dated in another hand Nov. 14, 1911, Wyeth Family Archives). Morris died in 1953, and this painting came onto the art market in 1954.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:BRM file photo