Untitled (view of Eight Bells)

Artist:

N.C. Wyeth

(American, 1882 - 1945)

Untitled (view of Eight Bells)

Alternate Title(s):A House in Maine
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1932
Dimensions:
42 1/2 × 46 3/4 in. (108 × 118.7 cm)

Brandywine Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Eugene Ormandy, 1991

Accession number: 91.18.1
Label Copy: This painting of the Wyeth family’s home in Port Clyde, Maine, offers a view into the other world of the Wyeths: the fishing communities of Mid-Coast Maine. Some of N. C. Wyeth’s most experimental work came from summers spent along the shore here. The house itself is notably named “Eight Bells” after one of the best-known paintings by another Mainer and an artist much admired by Wyeth, Winslow Homer. The phrase “eight bells” refers to a ship’s watch-keeping system, in which a bell is rung every half hour to track time at sea.
Research Number: NCW: 976
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined); on reverse on frame, Newman Galleries (Philadelphia) label
ProvenancePrivate collection; (Newman Galleries, Philadelphia, PA, 1963); Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia, PA
Exhibition HistoryChadds Ford, PA, 2003
References Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), L.171, p. 754, 755
Curatorial RemarksThe dating of this painting is based on Andrew Wyeth's recollections of the appearance of the house, particularly with the addition of dormers.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer, 1999