Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Fisherman
Medium: Oil on hardboard (Renaissance Panel)
Date: 1939
Dimensions:
30 × 44 in. (76.2 × 111.8 cm)
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Almquist, Jr.
Accession number: SUPP2000.1051
Research Number: NCW: 1051
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH; adhered to reverse, Renaissance Panel label no. 78 (4 or 8), dated 5/10/1939
ProvenanceCommissioned from the artist by Robert E. Treman, Ithaca, NY; descended in family
Exhibition HistoryTucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ, "Tucson Collects," 1979, no. 144, illustration in b/w p. 27; Cody, WY, 1980, p. 56
References
N. C. Wyeth, Income tax notes for 1939 (unpublished, Brandywine River Museum library); Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), M.59, p. 625
Curatorial RemarksRobert E. Treman waited patiently for N. C. Wyeth to find the time to do another painting for him after Wyeth had completed The Return of the Hunter in 1934. Treman commissioned a replica of "The Silent Fisherman" (NCW 1049), of which he had owned a print for a number of years. In the spring of 1939, Wyeth wrote Treman that he could begin on the picture, which was mailed to Treman on May 26, a horizontally-oriented version of the earlier work.
In a letter that accompanied the painting to Treman, Wyeth conveyed some information about the materials used and the framing he imagined: "You will note that this painting is done on panel-board, the ground I painted upon is called gesso--it's the old method of the Renaissance only rediscovered in recent years (thanks to Yale and its years of research.) It's the most permanent method known and the most luminous. The black moulding I put on just for protection...I imagine a 2 1/2" or 3" silver leaf moulding, warmed with a little toning with a half inch inner strip of ebony would look well. The toning could be varied according to the wall coloring....P.S. The painting has been waxed and eventually will assume a dull even finish without in any way diminishing the color qualities." (all correspondence private collection)
The artist's notes for expenses incurred against the price of this painting ($800.00) include an item "Express canoe from Rockland -- $16.00." This probably refers to NCWS.95.2356, a birch bark canoe Wyeth had purchsed in Maine in late 1937; the canoe still hangs in the studio.
In a letter that accompanied the painting to Treman, Wyeth conveyed some information about the materials used and the framing he imagined: "You will note that this painting is done on panel-board, the ground I painted upon is called gesso--it's the old method of the Renaissance only rediscovered in recent years (thanks to Yale and its years of research.) It's the most permanent method known and the most luminous. The black moulding I put on just for protection...I imagine a 2 1/2" or 3" silver leaf moulding, warmed with a little toning with a half inch inner strip of ebony would look well. The toning could be varied according to the wall coloring....P.S. The painting has been waxed and eventually will assume a dull even finish without in any way diminishing the color qualities." (all correspondence private collection)
The artist's notes for expenses incurred against the price of this painting ($800.00) include an item "Express canoe from Rockland -- $16.00." This probably refers to NCWS.95.2356, a birch bark canoe Wyeth had purchsed in Maine in late 1937; the canoe still hangs in the studio.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency
Photo Credit:?