Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Dusty Bottle
Alternate Title(s):Dusty Bottle
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1924
Dimensions:
37 1/4 × 39 7/8 in. (94.6 × 101.3 cm)
Brandywine Museum of Art, Gift of Miss Mary M. R. Phelps, 1973
Accession number: 73.10
Label Copy:
Wyeth's studio collection includes many objects that the artist used to assemble still-life compositions. A master technician and exacting teacher, Wyeth believed that the first responsibility of a young artist is to "love an object for its own sake... simply because it is an object of form and substance revealed by the wonder of light..." The Wyeth children, Henriette, Carolyn, and Andrew, started their training with their father by drawing still lifes. Wyeth himself turned to still life throughout his career to hone his skills in composition and color.
Reflected in the bottle is the large, multi-paned window that is the centerpiece of his studio. All three objects depicted remain in N. C. Wyeth's studio today. In the upper right corner, Wyeth noted that he spent only three hours on this painting, yet this was no sketch or quick study. Wyeth sent the piece to the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts fall exhibition in 1926 and no doubt enjoyed the success of his little artistic joke in this trompe l’oeil painting. The newspaper Every Evening noted, "Realism supreme features the still life of a fat green bottle by N. C. Wyeth. He calls his canvas "The Dusty Bottle," and it was amusing yesterday afternoon to watch various ones approach the picture with intentions of dusting the canvas and then discover the "dust" had been painted."
Wyeth's studio collection includes many objects that the artist used to assemble still-life compositions. A master technician and exacting teacher, Wyeth believed that the first responsibility of a young artist is to "love an object for its own sake... simply because it is an object of form and substance revealed by the wonder of light..." The Wyeth children, Henriette, Carolyn, and Andrew, started their training with their father by drawing still lifes. Wyeth himself turned to still life throughout his career to hone his skills in composition and color.
Reflected in the bottle is the large, multi-paned window that is the centerpiece of his studio. All three objects depicted remain in N. C. Wyeth's studio today. In the upper right corner, Wyeth noted that he spent only three hours on this painting, yet this was no sketch or quick study. Wyeth sent the piece to the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts fall exhibition in 1926 and no doubt enjoyed the success of his little artistic joke in this trompe l’oeil painting. The newspaper Every Evening noted, "Realism supreme features the still life of a fat green bottle by N. C. Wyeth. He calls his canvas "The Dusty Bottle," and it was amusing yesterday afternoon to watch various ones approach the picture with intentions of dusting the canvas and then discover the "dust" had been painted."
Research Number: NCW: 32
InscribedUpper right: N. C. W. / 1924 / 3 HRS
ProvenanceThe artist; Collection of William and Mary M. R. Phelps
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1926, no. 30, as "Still Life"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1971, no. 77; Ligonier, PA, Westmoreland County Art Association, "Ligonier Valley Bicentennial Art Show," 19 July-6 Aug. 1976; Princeton, NJ, 1977, no. 4; Chadds Ford, PA, 1982, no. 13, illus. in b/w p. 26; New York, NY, East Side Antiques Show, "A Brandywine Collection from the Brandywine River Museum," 24 Jan.-4 Feb. 1985; Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum of Art, June 22-Sept. 15, 2019, "N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives," illus. p. 163
References
William P. Frank, "Fine Exhibition of Art Awaiting Opening Tonight," (Wilmington, DE) Every Evening, Nov. 16, 1926, p. 17; Brandywine River Museum, Catalogue of the Collection, 1969-1989 (Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine Conservancy, 1991), ps. 198 and 214, color illustration p. 209; James H. Duff, et al., An American Vision, Three Generations of Wyeth Art (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1987), b/w illustration p. 28; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), S.11, p. 786-788
Curatorial RemarksThe first owner, William E. Phelps (d. 1967), was a friend of the Wyeth family. Shortly after NCW's death, he attempted but did not complete a biography of NCW; he donated a number of works by Andrew Wyeth to the Delaware Art Museum in 1964 (obit., Wilmington Morning News, Feb. 14, 1967, p. 18).
In addition to the props used in many illustrations, Wyeth's studio collection included objects such as this green bottle that made interesting still lifes. A master technician and exacting teacher, Wyeth believed that the first responsibility of a young artist is to "love an object for its own sake . . . simply because it is an object of form and substance revealed by the wonder of light. . . ." The Wyeth children, Henriette, Carolyn, and Andrew, started their training with their father by drawing still lifes and plaster casts. The pitcher remains in the NCW studio collection (NCWS.95.6618), as do a number of similar green bottles, and a set of the teacups.
Reflected in the bottle is the large, multi-paned window that is the centerpiece of Wyeth's studio. Wyeth noted that he spent only three hours on this painting, yet this was no sketch or quick study. Wyeth sent the piece to the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts fall exhibition in 1926. The Wilmington newspaper "Every Evening" (Nov. 11, 1926) noted, "Realism supreme features the still life of a fat green bottle by N. C. Wyeth. He calls his canvas "The Dusty Bottle," and it was amusing yesterday afternoon to watch various ones approach the picture with intentions of dusting the canvas and then discover the "dust" had been painted. The bottle, on a deep black background, is enlivened with an intense high light."
In addition to the props used in many illustrations, Wyeth's studio collection included objects such as this green bottle that made interesting still lifes. A master technician and exacting teacher, Wyeth believed that the first responsibility of a young artist is to "love an object for its own sake . . . simply because it is an object of form and substance revealed by the wonder of light. . . ." The Wyeth children, Henriette, Carolyn, and Andrew, started their training with their father by drawing still lifes and plaster casts. The pitcher remains in the NCW studio collection (NCWS.95.6618), as do a number of similar green bottles, and a set of the teacups.
Reflected in the bottle is the large, multi-paned window that is the centerpiece of Wyeth's studio. Wyeth noted that he spent only three hours on this painting, yet this was no sketch or quick study. Wyeth sent the piece to the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts fall exhibition in 1926. The Wilmington newspaper "Every Evening" (Nov. 11, 1926) noted, "Realism supreme features the still life of a fat green bottle by N. C. Wyeth. He calls his canvas "The Dusty Bottle," and it was amusing yesterday afternoon to watch various ones approach the picture with intentions of dusting the canvas and then discover the "dust" had been painted. The bottle, on a deep black background, is enlivened with an intense high light."
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting