Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Island Funeral, "First sketch"
Medium: Charcoal on wove paper
Date: ca. 1934/1935
Dimensions:
16 1/2 × 22 in. (41.9 × 55.9 cm)
Brandywine River Museum of Art, Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
Accession number: 96.1.552
Research Number: NCW: 2075
InscribedInscribed on cardboard mount at bottom center: First Sketch "Island Funeral" by N. C. WYETH
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth
Exhibition HistoryChadds Ford, PA, 2003
References
Christine B. Podmaniczky, "True Brilliance Never Fades: N. C. Wyeth's Island Funeral," in Jessica May and Christine B. Podmaniczky, "N. C. Wyeth: New Perspectives" (Brandywine River Museum of Art and Portland Museum of Art, 2019), p. 84. fig. 3
Curatorial RemarksSee NCW 1101, a later composition drawing for the image, and NCW 411, the painting on panel.
Dating of the present work is in accord with Andrew Wyeth's account of the creation of the painting. The idea for the picture was inspired by the funeral of Rufus Washington Teel who died on September 11, 1934. Teel was born, lived and died on Teel's Island, just off shore from Port Clyde. No members of the Wyeth family attended the funeral, but Ann Wyeth McCoy remembered watching the boats pass the dock at Eight Bells on the way to and from the funeral. The artist must have considered the idea for the picture for some time; Andrew Wyeth believed his father started the painting in 1935 (AW to CBP, Brandywine River Museum files).
Dating of the present work is in accord with Andrew Wyeth's account of the creation of the painting. The idea for the picture was inspired by the funeral of Rufus Washington Teel who died on September 11, 1934. Teel was born, lived and died on Teel's Island, just off shore from Port Clyde. No members of the Wyeth family attended the funeral, but Ann Wyeth McCoy remembered watching the boats pass the dock at Eight Bells on the way to and from the funeral. The artist must have considered the idea for the picture for some time; Andrew Wyeth believed his father started the painting in 1935 (AW to CBP, Brandywine River Museum files).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:photography directly from artwork
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer