Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Portrait of Captain Onion
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1901 / 1903
Dimensions:
26 1/4 x 18 1/4 in. (66.7 x 46.4 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.2322
Research Number: NCW: 2322
ProvenanceThe artist to Denys and Etta Freeman Zirngiebel, and descended in family to Marion Leonard Keniston; (East Dennis, MA, Robert C. Eldred Co., Inc., April 5, 2008, lot no. 1443);
References
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), P.13, p. 804
Curatorial RemarksCaptain Henry Onion (b. 1819, d. 1903), a Civil War veteran who lived in Dedham directly across the Charles River from the Wyeth property in Needham, served as Wyeth's inspiration for the aged Rip Van Winkle (see NCW 812 and NCW 1301). In 1916 the Onion family sent N. C. Wyeth Onion's Civil War coat and sash: "I am exceedingly lucky to get it, not only for its associations but for its rarity as a bit of costume. Those woven silk sashes are very difficult to get" (NCW to Henriette Zirngiebel Wyeth, Oct. 28, 1916, Wyeth Family Archives). Henriette Wyeth painted her brother Andrew wearing Onion's coat and sash in 1932. The sash was found in Andrew Wyeth's studio in 2010.
According to Army records, Onion, a civil engineer, enlisted as a Captain on 4/19/1861, and resigned in OCt. of the same year.
This painting was dated circa 1909/1910 in the published catalogue raisonne; the date was revised after Onion's date of death became available in 2011.
According to Army records, Onion, a civil engineer, enlisted as a Captain on 4/19/1861, and resigned in OCt. of the same year.
This painting was dated circa 1909/1910 in the published catalogue raisonne; the date was revised after Onion's date of death became available in 2011.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital photography directly from painting
Photo Credit:Ron Hall, 8/2006