Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The battle of Stirling Castle
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1921
Dimensions:
40 × 32 7/16 in. (101.6 × 82.4 cm)
Brandywine Museum of Art, Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
Accession number: 96.1.21
Research Number: NCW: 194
InscribedLower right: N C WYETH (underlined); On reverse on stretcher, (Knoedler's) label: No. 54822 / PICTURE; label on stretcher: M. Knoedler & Co., Inc. / 14 E. 57th street / New York, N.Y. / 54822 / The Battle of Stirling Castle; label adhered to canvas: N. C. Wyeth / The Battle of Stirling Castle / Scottish Chiefs / Oct. 1921 p. 198 / Scribner's Magazine / THIS COPYRIGHTED . . . ; label adhered to canvas: H(?). A. Gould / A. C. McClure Co. / 218 S. Wabash Ave. / Chicago, Ill. / from / Charles Scribner's Sons / Fifth Avenue / New York, N. Y.
ProvenanceThe artist (returned to him from Scribner's, 1/22/1923); Mrs. N. C. Wyeth (and with Knoedler Galleries, NY, ca. 1956 - 1968, # 54822); Carolyn Wyeth
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1946, no. 40; New York, NY, 1957, no. 93; Lubbock, TX, 1959, no. 28; Southampton, NY, 1966, no numbers
References
Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950," unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 17; "Stouthearted Heroes of a Beloved Painter," Life Magazine, vol. 43, no. 24 (Dec. 9, 1957), illus. in color p. 98; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 215; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.863, p. 424
Curatorial RemarksIn preparation for this commission, Wyeth read an undated edition of The Scottish Chiefs published by Thomas D. Crowell Company, New York, illustrated with photographs of Scottish scenery (Brandywine River Museum NCWS.95.184). He also had in his studio library the 8 volume "Scottish Highlands, Highland Clans and Highland Regiments" pulished by Fullerton & Co. of Edinburgh (BRMA, NCWS.95.232.1-.8).
The artist wrote to Scribner's art editor Joseph H. Chapin, "...the last illustration for "Scottish Chiefs" was shipped in the morning of Aug. 12th. The subject is one that has given me so much difficulty from the beginning --"The Battle of Stirling Castle." I believe I have got something at last--a picture which rings with a certain historic conviction, a quality which I felt was very necessary in this particular subject" (NCW to Joseph H. Chapin, Aug. 17, 1921, Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library).
Wyeth was extremely concerned about the quality of the reproductions for this commission--he had generously used blue and green pigments throughout, difficult for printers to duplicate. For this commission, the plates were engraved by the Suffolk Engraving and Electrotyping Company (see Scribner's cards, Brandywine River Museum of Art) and printed by Bowker (NCW to Joseph Hawley Chapin, dated "Tuesday morning, 6:15" probably June, 1921, Archives of Charles Scribner's, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library).
The artist wrote to Scribner's art editor Joseph H. Chapin, "...the last illustration for "Scottish Chiefs" was shipped in the morning of Aug. 12th. The subject is one that has given me so much difficulty from the beginning --"The Battle of Stirling Castle." I believe I have got something at last--a picture which rings with a certain historic conviction, a quality which I felt was very necessary in this particular subject" (NCW to Joseph H. Chapin, Aug. 17, 1921, Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library).
Wyeth was extremely concerned about the quality of the reproductions for this commission--he had generously used blue and green pigments throughout, difficult for printers to duplicate. For this commission, the plates were engraved by the Suffolk Engraving and Electrotyping Company (see Scribner's cards, Brandywine River Museum of Art) and printed by Bowker (NCW to Joseph Hawley Chapin, dated "Tuesday morning, 6:15" probably June, 1921, Archives of Charles Scribner's, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting