Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Good Shepherd
Alternate Title(s):The Shepherd at the Door
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1926 / 1927
Dimensions:
45 × 40 in. (114.3 × 101.6 cm)
Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Gift of an anonymous Trustee, 1959
Accession number: SUPP2000.882
Research Number: NCW: 882
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceHeirs of Robert Winsor to 1957; (Vose Galleries, Boston, MA, 1957-1959, no. 19328)
Exhibition Historypossibly Scribner's, New York, NY, April, 1931 (see curatorial comment); Boston, MA, Vose Galleries, Dec. 1957
References
Illustration in Rotogravure Section, Delmarva Sunday Star (Wilmington, DE), 9 March 1930, as "The Good Shepherd"; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1034, p. 491
Curatorial RemarksThe original intention for the Parable series was never realized. Wyeth wrote to Sidey M. Chase in Oct. 1922, "Have just signed a contract to do the Parables for Robert Winsor of Boston. It's a big chance and a big proposition. A mighty interesting scheme throughout. Taft (William Howard) is to write the forward and the imprint will be the University Press in Cambridge. 50,000 copies, first editions, etc." (Wyeth Family Archives, NCW to Sidney M. Chase, Oct. 16, 1922). Robert Winsor (1858-1930) was a Boston investment banker and supporter of the Unitarian Universalist Church.
No known archival material clearly explains the ownership of the 12 Parable paintings and Andrew Wyeth has confirmed the confusion. Apparently, each picture was jointly owned by Robert Winsor and N. C. Wyeth, for on May 20, 1927 the artist wrote to his father stating he owned "half interest in the originals" and expressing a desire to buy back the complete set "after (Winsor) has made full use of them" (NCW to ANW, May 20, 1927, Wyeth Family Archives). Just before Winsor died in January 1930, Wyeth obtained all 12 in order to reproduce them in some way (NCW to Roger L. Scaife, Jan. 8, 1930, Houghton Mifflin Archives, Houghton Library, Harvard University). In 1942, the artist granted to the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention "second rights for unrestricted use" for this image, for which he was paid $50.00 (Herman F. Burns, Broadman Press of the Sunday School Board, to NCW Oct. 5, 1942, Wyeth Family Archives).
The BRM holds papers that list the biblical citations that inspired Wyeth and a rough copy of his text for the catalogue of the Wilmington, DE, 1930 exhibition which included the artist's remarks about each Parable painting.
;A selection of paintings from The Parables must have been shown in New York in the spring of 1931, for in "Art that is now being shown in various New York galleries," Times writer Ruth Green Harris noted "N. C. Wyeth, at Scribner's, shows paintings, many of which illustrate Old Testament scenes." (NYT, April 12, 1931; ProQuest Historical Newspapers, pg. X10).
No known archival material clearly explains the ownership of the 12 Parable paintings and Andrew Wyeth has confirmed the confusion. Apparently, each picture was jointly owned by Robert Winsor and N. C. Wyeth, for on May 20, 1927 the artist wrote to his father stating he owned "half interest in the originals" and expressing a desire to buy back the complete set "after (Winsor) has made full use of them" (NCW to ANW, May 20, 1927, Wyeth Family Archives). Just before Winsor died in January 1930, Wyeth obtained all 12 in order to reproduce them in some way (NCW to Roger L. Scaife, Jan. 8, 1930, Houghton Mifflin Archives, Houghton Library, Harvard University). In 1942, the artist granted to the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention "second rights for unrestricted use" for this image, for which he was paid $50.00 (Herman F. Burns, Broadman Press of the Sunday School Board, to NCW Oct. 5, 1942, Wyeth Family Archives).
The BRM holds papers that list the biblical citations that inspired Wyeth and a rough copy of his text for the catalogue of the Wilmington, DE, 1930 exhibition which included the artist's remarks about each Parable painting.
;A selection of paintings from The Parables must have been shown in New York in the spring of 1931, for in "Art that is now being shown in various New York galleries," Times writer Ruth Green Harris noted "N. C. Wyeth, at Scribner's, shows paintings, many of which illustrate Old Testament scenes." (NYT, April 12, 1931; ProQuest Historical Newspapers, pg. X10).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital photography directly from painting
Photo Credit:Spectrum Imaging, 2/1/2006