Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
"Sabra, filled with a dizzy mixture of fright and exhilaration, forgot to look back at everything she was leaving"
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1929
Dimensions:
48 × 32 in. (121.9 × 81.3 cm)
Thomas Bruce Ferguson, Jr. and Candice Lilley Ferguson
Accession number: SUPP2000.617
Research Number: NCW: 617
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined); on reverse of canvas, printers' marks in u.l.: 911/011/08 / NOV. / CIMARRON / PART I
ProvenanceThe artist; Elva Shartel (Mrs. Thompson B.) Ferguson, ca. 1931, and descended in family (Walter Scott Ferguson and Lucinda Loomis Ferguson, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, OK; Thomas Bruce Ferguson, Sr.)
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 279; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1128, p. 524
Curatorial RemarksAccording to Ferguson family oral history, the artist and RKO director Wesley Ruggles (1889-1972) gave this painting to Elva Shartel Ferguson (1867-1947), the politically active widow of Thompson B. Ferguson (1857-1921), the last territorial governor of Oklahoma. In 1931, she advised Ruggles during the filming of Cimarron, RKO's movie based on Edna Ferber's story drawn from the experiences of the Ferguson family as they settled Oklahoma, established a newspaper and supported statehood.
The novel was serialized in Woman's Home Companion beginning in November, 1929. Doubleday, Doran published a first edition in 1930, without the Wyeth illustrations. It is not known whether the artist corresponded with Ferber as he created the images for the story.
The novel was serialized in Woman's Home Companion beginning in November, 1929. Doubleday, Doran published a first edition in 1930, without the Wyeth illustrations. It is not known whether the artist corresponded with Ferber as he created the images for the story.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Ferguson & Katzman Photography, 3/2006