Chemistry

Artist:

N.C. Wyeth

(American, 1882 - 1945)

Chemistry

Medium: Oil on hardboard (Renaissance Panel)
Date: 1938
Dimensions:
30 3/8 × 16 1/4 in. (77.2 × 41.3 cm)
Private collection, PA
Accession number: SUPP2000.2332
Research Number: NCW: 2332
InscribedOn reverse of panel, Renaissance Panel label, no. 667, dated 5/16/38
ProvenanceThe artist; Hercules Powder Company, and subsequent companies through merger; private collection, DE; (with Schoonover Studios, Ltd., Wilmington, DE, as of 2012)
References N. C. Wyeth, Income Tax Notes for 1939 (unpublished, Brandywine River Museum Library); Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.118, p. 675
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum holds a lantern slide (NCWS.95.1825.175) made from the charcoal composition drawing and used in the transfer of the design from paper to panel. The slide shows that the drawing depicted the complete layout of the calendar design, including a decorative border and space for the calendar block; it provides authority for the title which appears below the image and for the date of calendar which appears above the image in the drawing. A letter (NCW to Carolyn Bockius Wyeth, June 26, 1938, Wyeth Family Archives) makes it clear that this artwork was rejected by the Hercules art department and no sale price is listed in the 1939 income tax notes. The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth collection includes a study drawing of a hand holding a test tube (NCW 2284).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Photography directly from artwork
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer, digital photography from snapshot, 12/1/2006