Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Arundel, dust-jacket illustration
Alternate Title(s):Bateaus on the Dead River; Bateaux on the Dead River
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1929
Dimensions:
22 × 32 1/4 in. (55.9 × 81.9 cm)
Mr. & Mrs. Louis "Bo" Polk, Wapiti, WY
Accession number: SUPP2000.502
Research Number: NCW: 502
InscribedLower right.: N. C. WYETH
ProvenanceKenneth Roberts, Kennebunkport, ME; (Kenneth Roberts Estate auction, Kennebunkport, ME, lot no. 59, July 18-20, 1967); Private collection, 1968; Private collection, Manchester, CT, ca. 1969-1999
Exhibition HistoryRockland, ME, 1982, p. 9, as "Bateaus on the Dead River"
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 226 as "Bateaus on the Dead River"; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1088, p. 511
Curatorial RemarksKenneth Roberts wrote a detailed description of his conception of the dust-jacket image on Sept. 12, 1929, favoring a depiction of the attack on Quebec. (Kenneth Roberts to "Dear Russell," Sept. 12, 1929, copy, Brandywine River Museum catalogue raisonne file). Preliminary sketches by another artist were rejected, and on Oct. 4, Doubleday, Doran executives decided to offer Wyeth "$200 to do a 4-color oil (from Roberts' letter) to cover the front and backstrap" (copy of Memorandum, Longwell to Rimington, Oct. 4, 1929, BRM catalogue raisonne files). It is not known who was responsible for the change in the subject matter.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Photo by Jay York 4/2002