For three months he worked as an axeman . . . his only companion a dour Scotchman who never spoke.

Artist:

N.C. Wyeth

(American, 1882 - 1945)

For three months he worked as an axeman . . . his only companion a dour Scotchman who never spoke.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1911
Dimensions:
34 × 25 in. (86.4 × 63.5 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.653
Research Number: NCW: 653
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined); no marks on reverse (canvas lined, 1972)
ProvenanceCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1911; Brentano's, Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 1911; Private collection, Wilkes Barre, PA; descended in family
References Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 275; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.365, p. 237
Curatorial RemarksAuthor Mary Synon was particularly pleased with the illustrations for this story, citing Wyeth's "sympathetic understanding of the North Country people" (Mary Synon to NCW, Jan. 24, 1912, Wyeth Family Archives).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. photography from painting (Brandywine River Museum catalogue raisonne files); 2. digital photography from printed source (Brandywine River Museum library, tear sheet)
Photo Credit:2. Rick Echelmeyer, 9/7/2006