Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Old-Timer (The Country Gentleman, cover illustration)
Alternate Title(s):The Old Timer; Old Man with Corn
Medium: Oil on hardboard
Date: 1944
Dimensions:
23 × 24 in. (58.4 × 61 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.581
Research Number: NCW: 581
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceCountry Gentleman Magazine; gift to DeKalb AgResearch, Inc., DeKalb, IL
Exhibition HistoryDeKalb, IL, Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, "Near-Looking, A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art," Oct. 27- Nov. 22, 1974 (additional venue, South Bend, IN, University of Notre Dame Art Gallery, Dec. 1, 1974 - Jan. 26, 1975), cat. no. 47, illus. b/w p. 82
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 257; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1314, p. 590-591
Curatorial RemarksA note in the magazine provides the authority for the title of this painting: "N. C. Wyeth calls his picture The Old-Timer. When Mr. Wyeth brought this month's cover into the office, he told us a little about the idea behind it. A farm boy himself, he remembers his grandfather in Vermont who used to select seed from his own crops. The corn was braided in the fall and left to hang all winter until it was cured. Then the kernals were rubbed off and planted in the spring. 'The old-time farmer used to save the culls--the ears that you see in the basket in the picture. They went to the mill to be ground into meal for home use.' Thanks, Mr. Wyeth, for refreshing our memories in this day of hybrid corn!" The Brandywine River Museum holds a lantern slide of the composition drawing (NCWS.95.1825.191) used in the transfer of the design from paper to panel.
In 1977, the DeKalb Corporation reproduced the image on a commemorative plate, with the title "Old Man with Corn."
In 1977, the DeKalb Corporation reproduced the image on a commemorative plate, with the title "Old Man with Corn."
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:image from printed source (Brandywine River Museum library, tear sheet)
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer