Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
A Primitive Spearman
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1912
Dimensions:
dimensions unavailable
known by reproduction only
Accession number: SUPP2000.849
Research Number: NCW: 849
InscribedUpper right: N C WYETH (underlined, from reproduction)
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY; donated to "Artist Fund," for auction Dec. 19, 1914 to benefit French and Belgian artists
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 58 and 276, illus. b/w p. 62; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.460, p. 267
Curatorial RemarksIn Sept. 1912, Wyeth wrote, "...I jumped in early Monday morning and with steady concentration completed the best Indian subject I have attempted. Scribner's bought it immediately...(NCW to Henriette Zirngiebel Wyeth, "Eleven o'clock! Devil of a time..." and dated in another hand Sept. 19, 1912, Wyeth Family Archives). The Scribner's card that records the painting is numbered 29690, indicating that the painting was received before two other paintings mentioned as in progress in the same letter and published in Dec. 1912. The painting was published for its own merit and did not relate to an article or story in the October 1913 issue.
Wyeth expected that Scribner's would return this painting to him (letter above), but Scribner's archival material indicates that it was "given to Mrs. Duncan Candler, Artist Fund. 15 West 38th Street, N.Y. C., Dec-12-14" (Brandywine Rivr Museum library, Scribner's archives, #29690). "Aid Flows in For Artists" (New York Times, Dec. 17, 1914, p. 4) links Mrs. Candler's name with the Dec. 19 auction held at the Plaza Hotel to benefit French and Belgian artists.
Wyeth expected that Scribner's would return this painting to him (letter above), but Scribner's archival material indicates that it was "given to Mrs. Duncan Candler, Artist Fund. 15 West 38th Street, N.Y. C., Dec-12-14" (Brandywine Rivr Museum library, Scribner's archives, #29690). "Aid Flows in For Artists" (New York Times, Dec. 17, 1914, p. 4) links Mrs. Candler's name with the Dec. 19 auction held at the Plaza Hotel to benefit French and Belgian artists.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital photography from printed source (Brandywine River Museum library, tear sheet)
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer, 7/11/2006