Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Pyle's Barn
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1918
Dimensions:
approximately 60 × 48 in. (152.4 × 121.9 cm)
known by archival photograph
Accession number: SUPP2000.2418
Research Number: NCW: 2418
References
Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), ps. 605, 607; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), L.129, p. 740
Curatorial RemarksThis painting is known only by a photograph of N. C. Wyeth standing with the painting on an easel in front of one of his favorite motifs, the barn on the property he rented from 1908-1911. In an undated letter of late October 1918 the artist wrote to his parents that he was painting the "dear old barn"--he enclosed a rough sketch of a front-on view that looks similar to this painting--and noted the size as "4 x 5 feet." He added "It has turned out unusually well and marks another distinct step ahead in the amost cherished of all departments of my work" (Betsy James Wyeth, ed., p. 605). The Pyle family was not related to Howard Pyle.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. and 2. scan of b/w photography
Photo Credit:1. and 2. Wyeth Family Archives