Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Francis Parkman.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1925
Dimensions:
40 × 28 in. (101.6 × 71.1 cm)
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
Accession number: SUPP2000.512
Research Number: NCW: 512
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth (with Knoedler Galleries, New York, NY, 1956, #54808 and A 9354); (? ); (Arrowsmith Fenn Galleries, Santa Fe, NM, 1973)
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, 1957, no. 76
References
Illus., New York Times, Aug. 16, 1925, p. BR4; Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950," unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 27; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 214; Kate F. Jennings, N. C. Wyeth (New York: Brompton Books Corp., Crescent Books, 1992), illustration in color p. 39; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1005, p. 481
Curatorial RemarksIn 1973 an art dealer recorded that the following inscription was written on the reverse of the canvas: Portrait of Parkman based on contemporary photographs of him / NCW (Forrest Fenn, Arrowsmith Fenn Galleries, to Betsy James Wyeth, May 31, 1973, Brandywine River Museum catalogue raisonne files). By 1991 the inscription was no longer visible due to the lining of the canvas.
In a publisher's preface dated July 8, 1925 and printed in the Wyeth / Remington edition, the artist is quoted as saying, "This title has been much on my mind for several years....'The Oregon Trail' has always been deep in my blood. I feel very much stirred to interpret my dreams into pictures." Wyeth was keenly aware that his ancestor Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (1802-1856) had led several expeditions to the American northwest in the 1830s.
In a publisher's preface dated July 8, 1925 and printed in the Wyeth / Remington edition, the artist is quoted as saying, "This title has been much on my mind for several years....'The Oregon Trail' has always been deep in my blood. I feel very much stirred to interpret my dreams into pictures." Wyeth was keenly aware that his ancestor Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (1802-1856) had led several expeditions to the American northwest in the 1830s.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital photography directly from painting