Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Woman's Day Magazine, cover illustration
Alternate Title(s):The Homecoming; The Soldier Returns; Soldier's Return
Medium: Oil on hardboard
Date: 1945
Dimensions:
approximately 35 x 26 in. (88.8 x 66 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.559
Research Number: NCW: 559
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Lynch, ca. 1950 to ca. 1962; Bertha Guida, Wilmington, DE, to at least 1976 (refers in correspondence to painting as "Home Coming"); (Newman Galleries, Philadelphia, PA, 1979); private collection and descended in family to 2014; (Christie's, New York, NY, Nov. 19, 2014, lot no. 11, as "The Homecoming");
References
Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950," unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 39, as "Soldier's Return"; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 279, no title, description only; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1320, p. 593, as "Woman's Day Magazine, cover illustration"; cover illustration, American Fine Art Magazine (Nov./Dec. 2014);
Curatorial RemarksWoman's Day art editor Kirk Wilkinson corrected many details of this composition to Sidney Mendelsohn of American Artists Company (see letters American Artist Company to NCW, beginning May 4, 1945 through Sept. 6, 1945, Wyeth Family Archives). Among them, "The soldier should appear to be younger and slimmer, typically G.I. and in an absolutely authentic and well-fitting uniform and with a G. I. haircut. His bag should be a standard regulation canvas..." In a subsequent letter, Mendelsohn noted that he was expressing to the artist a "G. I. bag that will be acceptable to the editors of Woman's Day." A title for the image was not published anywhere in the magazine.
The Brandywine River Museum of Art holds the charcoal composition drawing (96.1.501) which shows the subtle changes, like the bag and the attitude of the soldier toward the dog, that Wyeth incorporated into the finished picture. That drawing bears the title "Soldier's Return" in the artist's hand.
The Brandywine River Museum of Art holds the charcoal composition drawing (96.1.501) which shows the subtle changes, like the bag and the attitude of the soldier toward the dog, that Wyeth incorporated into the finished picture. That drawing bears the title "Soldier's Return" in the artist's hand.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Brandywine River Museum catalogue raisonné files
Photo Credit:hardcover: (digital photography, Rick Echelmeyer, 10/23/2006)