Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Phoenician Biremes
Alternate Title(s):The City of Tyre
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1923
Dimensions:
174 1/2 × 132 1/2 in. (443.2 × 336.6 cm)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch Collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.801
Research Number: NCW: 801
ProvenanceFirst National Bank of Boston; by corporate merger to present owner
References
"The Mural Paintings, An Interview with the Painter N. C. Wyeth," pamphlet published by the First National Bank of Boston, n.d.; N. C. Wyeth, "Banking Requires the Wings of the Sea," Boston Evening Transcript, Sept. 2, 1924; "Sea Trade from its Earliest Inception, Motif of Murals," Boston Herald, Sept. 2, 1924 (includes long quotation from NCW); "First National Bank of Boston, Boston, Mass," Architecture and Building Magazine, vol. LVI, no. 12 (Dec.1924), pg. 111-112; "The City of Tyre: By N. C. Wyeth," illus. in color p. 16, and N. C. Wyeth, "Biremes and Galleons," p. 54, Ladies Home Journal, vol. XLII, no. 7 (July 1925, text adapted from Boston Evening Transcript piece noted above); Anton Kamp, "N. C. Wyeth, Painter and Illustrator," The Artgum, vol. IV, no. 4 (April 1926), illus. b/w p. 14; F. J. Stimson, "Boston of the Future," Scribner's Magazine, vol. LXXXIV, no. 1(July 1928), frontispiece illus.; Francis W. Hatch, "Sole Witness to the Wyeth Canal," Yankee Magazine, (Sept. 1970), p. 47; Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), ps. 698, 700, 704; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 161, illus. b/w p. 163; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), M.22, p. 606, 607
Curatorial Remarks"Although we are certain of Tyre's existence, its exact location, and we knew of its dynamic force in industry and politics, yet it looms through the dim reaches of history like a dream city, a dream life, the mere dawn of the present stupendous age" (from "The Mural Paintings, An Interview with the Painter N. C. Wyeth," pamphlet published by the First National Bank of Boston, n.d.).
The Brandywine River Museum holds a lantern slide of the mural (NCWS.95.1825.38) from the artist's collection of slides, and two archival photographs, both of which show that the mural was originally signed in the lower right and dated, probably 1923. One of the photographs is inscribed on the reverse in the artist's hand: Phoenician Biremes (underlined) / By the couresy of and / copyright by / The First National / Bank of Boston. NCW 806 is the presentation painting for this image.
Bank of America's collection includes photographs of the mural in situ taken by Margaret Bourke-White on Oct. 29, 1929. The mural was removed from its position in the building at 67 Milk Street, Boston, in 1972.
The Brandywine River Museum holds a lantern slide of the mural (NCWS.95.1825.38) from the artist's collection of slides, and two archival photographs, both of which show that the mural was originally signed in the lower right and dated, probably 1923. One of the photographs is inscribed on the reverse in the artist's hand: Phoenician Biremes (underlined) / By the couresy of and / copyright by / The First National / Bank of Boston. NCW 806 is the presentation painting for this image.
Bank of America's collection includes photographs of the mural in situ taken by Margaret Bourke-White on Oct. 29, 1929. The mural was removed from its position in the building at 67 Milk Street, Boston, in 1972.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. transparency directly from painting; 2. detail of lower left corner, directly from painting
Photo Credit:1. and 2. Michael Gould