Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Bringing in the Ears
Alternate Title(s):Harvest Home in the Land of the Green Giant
Medium: Oil on hardboard (Renaissance Panel)
Date: 1942
Dimensions:
25 × 30 in. (63.5 × 76.2 cm)
General Mills
Accession number: SUPP2000.243
Research Number: NCW: 243
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined); Renaissance Panel label adhered to reverse of panel, numbered 959 and dated 1?/26/40
ProvenanceMinnesota Valley Canning Company, Le Sueur, MN, to 1950; Green Giant Company to 1979; Pillsbury Company to 2000
Exhibition HistoryChicago, IL, Art Institute of Chicago, "Art Directors Club of Chicago, Exhibition of Advertising Art," March 1 - 31, 1943
References
ADCC Record of Advertising Art (Chicago: Art Directors Club, 1944), illustration in color p. 24 ("Honorable Mention"); Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 295; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.166, p. 693
Curatorial RemarksPrinted below the reproduction of this image used in the Niblets advertisement is the authority for the title: "Bringing in the Ears" -- painted by N. C. WYETH. "Harvest Home in the Land of the Green Giant" is printed above the image. Among the ephemera found in Wyeth's studio was a reproduction print of the image, on quality paper with the legend "Bringing in the Ears" below the image (BRM, NCWS.95.6555).
According to correspondence between Wyeth and his agent American Artists Company, this painting was commissioned by Minnesota Valley Canning Company through the Leo Burnett Company, Inc. The client provided photographs of the trucks used by Minnesota farmers and of the corn plants themselves; stipulated the perspective ("low...for a heroic effect"), the age of the farmer ("somewheres between 35 and 40"), and the time of day ("sunset"). Wyeth was paid $700 for the commission which included the sketch (American Artists Company to NCW, Jan. 14, 1942, Wyeth Family Archives).
According to correspondence between Wyeth and his agent American Artists Company, this painting was commissioned by Minnesota Valley Canning Company through the Leo Burnett Company, Inc. The client provided photographs of the trucks used by Minnesota farmers and of the corn plants themselves; stipulated the perspective ("low...for a heroic effect"), the age of the farmer ("somewheres between 35 and 40"), and the time of day ("sunset"). Wyeth was paid $700 for the commission which included the sketch (American Artists Company to NCW, Jan. 14, 1942, Wyeth Family Archives).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency from tear sheet, Brandywine River Museum Library
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer, 5/2005