Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Westward Ho!, cover illustration
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1920
Dimensions:
39 1/8 × 30 1/8 in. (99.4 × 76.5 cm)
Brandywine Museum of Art, Gift of Margaret D. Williamson, Ray Williamson, Ann Williamson Younkins, 1985
Accession number: 85.4
Label Copy:
In preparation for this commission, the artist read and annotated an edition of Westward Ho! published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, London, 1907 (Brandywine Museum of Art, Walter & Leonore Annenberg Research Center, # 22481). To research galleons of the period, Wyeth had assistance from fellow Pyle student Sidney M. Chase, who provided him with books and prints from the Haverhill, Massachusetts, public library (see NCW to SMC, Dec. 27, 1919, Wyeth Family Archives).
Cover illustrations were particularly important to the publisher—that first image was the one to attract buyers in a bookshop window. On Dec. 30, 1919, the artist reported, "Westward Ho! cover is drawn in and ready for color and looks very promising" (NCW to "Dear Folks," Dec. 30, 1919, Wyeth Family Archives). In a letter to Joseph H. Chapin, art editor at Scribner's, the artist recounted that this canvas, for all the detail and lettering, took him ten days to complete (see NCW to Joseph Hawley Chapin dated in NCW's hand "Friday Morning / 5.30 o'clock," Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Princeton University). Pentimenti from the hand-lettering are still visible above and below the image, although several inches have been cut from the top of the painting.
In preparation for this commission, the artist read and annotated an edition of Westward Ho! published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, London, 1907 (Brandywine Museum of Art, Walter & Leonore Annenberg Research Center, # 22481). To research galleons of the period, Wyeth had assistance from fellow Pyle student Sidney M. Chase, who provided him with books and prints from the Haverhill, Massachusetts, public library (see NCW to SMC, Dec. 27, 1919, Wyeth Family Archives).
Cover illustrations were particularly important to the publisher—that first image was the one to attract buyers in a bookshop window. On Dec. 30, 1919, the artist reported, "Westward Ho! cover is drawn in and ready for color and looks very promising" (NCW to "Dear Folks," Dec. 30, 1919, Wyeth Family Archives). In a letter to Joseph H. Chapin, art editor at Scribner's, the artist recounted that this canvas, for all the detail and lettering, took him ten days to complete (see NCW to Joseph Hawley Chapin dated in NCW's hand "Friday Morning / 5.30 o'clock," Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Princeton University). Pentimenti from the hand-lettering are still visible above and below the image, although several inches have been cut from the top of the painting.
Research Number: NCW: 273
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined); label removed from reverse by conservator and encased in plastic: [typewritten] WYETH, N. C. / COVER. WESTWARD HO! / September 1920 / [printed] THIS COPYRIGHTED PICTURE IS THE / PROPERTY OF CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, AND IS TO BE / RETURNED TO THEM / IN GOOD CONDITION / from / SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE / 153-157 Fifth Ave., New York; on frame, label of T. W. Norman Co. [framers], Boston
ProvenanceThe artist; Charles Dana Burrage; gift to his granddaughter, Margaret Dana Burrage Williamson; Estate of Margaret Dana Williamson, to 1985
Exhibition HistoryPhiladelphia, PA, 1921; Chadds Ford, PA, 1978; Wilmington, DE, 1981; Chadds Ford, PA, 1985; Farmville, VA, Longwood Center for Visual Arts, "American Book Illustrators," 4 Oct.-1 Nov. 1997; Kalamazoo, MI, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, "The Wyeths, America's Artists," Jan. 15-April 17, 2011;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 209; Brandywine River Museum, Catalogue of the Collection, 1969-1989 (Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine Conservancy. 1991), p. 211; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.825, p. 408, 409
Curatorial RemarksIn preparation for this commission, the artist read and annotated an edition published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, London, 1907 (Brandywine River Museum of Art, Annenberg Research Center, # 22481). In his research on galleons of the period, Wyeth had assistance from fellow Pyle student Sidney M. Chase, who provided him with books and prints from the Haverhill, Massachusetts, public library (NCW to SMC, Dec. 27, 1919, Wyeth Family Archives). According to Scribner's records, all paintings in the set were the property of the artist and returned to him on Aug. 19, 1921. Scribner's paid Wyeth $3,500 for the commission.
Dec. 30, 1919, the artist reported "Westward Ho! cover is drawn in and ready for color and looks very promising" (NCW to "Dear Folks, Dec. 30, 1919, Wyeth Family Archives). In a letter to Joseph H. Chapin, art editor at Scribner's, the artist recounted that this canvas, for all the detail and lettering, took him 10 days to complete (see NCW to Joseph Hawley Chapin dated in NCW's hand "Friday Morning / 5.30 o'clock," Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Princeton University). Pentimenti from the hand-lettering are still visible above and below the image, although several inches have been cut from the top of the painting.
Dec. 30, 1919, the artist reported "Westward Ho! cover is drawn in and ready for color and looks very promising" (NCW to "Dear Folks, Dec. 30, 1919, Wyeth Family Archives). In a letter to Joseph H. Chapin, art editor at Scribner's, the artist recounted that this canvas, for all the detail and lettering, took him 10 days to complete (see NCW to Joseph Hawley Chapin dated in NCW's hand "Friday Morning / 5.30 o'clock," Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, Princeton University). Pentimenti from the hand-lettering are still visible above and below the image, although several inches have been cut from the top of the painting.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:web: BRM photo files; hardcover, Rick Echelmeyer, 5/2006
On view