Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
untitled (view of the Brandywine River)
Alternate Title(s):Charles River Scene
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1914
Dimensions:
16 1/8 × 20 1/8 in. (41 × 51.1 cm)
Needham Free Public Library, Needham, Massachusetts
Accession number: SUPP2000.1043
Research Number: NCW: 1043
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH / 1912 (not in NCW's hand); on reverse on stretcher: 947; on piece of masking tape adhered to stretcher: Needham p. 1.; on piece of cardboard attached to stretcher: make crate + send to Mass for N. C. Wyeth / Rosedale Pa
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth, 1945-1969
Exhibition HistoryNeedham, MA, 1982, no numbers, as "Charles River Scene"
References
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), L.94, p. 727
Curatorial RemarksMrs. N. C. Wyeth gave this painting to the Needham Free Public Library in 1969 as a view of the Charles River. The Wyeth family did live in Needham from mid Nov. 1912 to mid March 1913 so a wintery picture done of the Charles would not be impossible. Andrew Wyeth, however, believes this to be a view of the Brandywine and the topography does seem to favor this opinion.
The painting may relate to Wyeth's interests in New Hope painters like Daniel Garber, William L. Lathrop, and Edward W. Redfield. He visited Lathrop in Oct., 1914, proclaiming the occasion "valuable and inspiriting" (Betsy James, Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), p. 475), however, by 1918 he had disavowed the importance of their work (NCW to Sidney M. Chase, May 24, 1918, Wyeth Family Archives).
The painting may relate to Wyeth's interests in New Hope painters like Daniel Garber, William L. Lathrop, and Edward W. Redfield. He visited Lathrop in Oct., 1914, proclaiming the occasion "valuable and inspiriting" (Betsy James, Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), p. 475), however, by 1918 he had disavowed the importance of their work (NCW to Sidney M. Chase, May 24, 1918, Wyeth Family Archives).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Photography from artwork
Photo Credit:Stephen Morrison