Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Turkey Hunters
Alternate Title(s):Hunting Wild Turkey
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1941
Dimensions:
108 × 348 in. (274.3 × 883.9 cm)
Collection of MetLife, New York
Accession number: SUPP2000.443
Research Number: NCW: 443
ProvenanceCommissioned from NCW by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, 1985, no. 8, as "Hunting Wild Turkey"
References
"The Days of the Pilgrims Live Again in Our Murals," (publication of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.), vol. 23, no. 7 (Dec. 1941), ps. 8-9; N. C. Wyeth, Income Tax Notes for 1941 (unpublished, Brandywine River Museum Library); Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), color illustration p. 170; Peggy Robbins, "The Magic of N. C. Wyeth," South Carolina Wildlife, (Jan.-Feb. 1979), b/w illustration p. 15; Robert San Souci, N. C. Wyeth's Pilgrims (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1991), color illustration (unpaginated); Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), M.65, p. 628
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum of Art holds the presentation painting (NCW, 2104, 2004.11); several lantern slides that were used in the transfer of the design from drawing to canvas (NCWS.95.1825.292, and NCWS.95.1825.323-333); a composition drawing (NCW 2663, BRMA 2019.12); and extensive correspondence between the artist and the architect Arthur O. Angilly which touches on all phases of the commission.
In the mid-1980s, the MetLife murals were removed from the walls of their original location at One Madison Avenue, New York, and placed on strainers. MetLife now occupies new corporate headquarters on Bryant Park, but this mural remains in the Madison Avenue building.
In the mid-1980s, the MetLife murals were removed from the walls of their original location at One Madison Avenue, New York, and placed on strainers. MetLife now occupies new corporate headquarters on Bryant Park, but this mural remains in the Madison Avenue building.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Photo by: Malcolm Varon, NYC, copyright © 2007