Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Mending Traps, Martinsville, Maine
Alternate Title(s):Martinsville, Maine
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1934 / 1936
Dimensions:
32 1/8 × 40 in. (81.6 × 101.6 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.889
Research Number: NCW: 889
InscribedLower left: To my friend / DR. WALTER D. HALL / from N. C. WYETH (name is underlined) / 1938
ProvenanceThe artist to 1938; gift to Dr. Walter D. Hall, Tenants Harbor, ME; (Vose Galleries, Boston, MA, 1964); Collection of New England Merchants Bank, Boston, MA, 1965-1967; (Vose Galleries, 1967); Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Palmer, Longmeadow, MA, through at least 1989; ?; (with Vose Galleries, Boston, MA, 2013)
Exhibition HistoryRockland, ME, 1982, p. 9, as "Martinsville, Maine"
References
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), L.186, p. 761
Curatorial RemarksThe authority for the title of this painting comes from an inscription in the artist's hand, found on the reverse of an archival photograph (Brandywine River Museum library): Mending Traps / Martinsville Me. / N. C. W. / oil 25" x 30". The photograph was taken before the artist inscribed the work to Dr. Hall.
Letters written by N. C. Wyeth from Port Clyde dated early August through mid-September 1938 (Wyeth Family Archives) indicate Wyeth suffered an acute respiratory illness that summer and often saw Dr. Hall; the painting probably was given as payment or in gratitude for professional services.
Letters written by N. C. Wyeth from Port Clyde dated early August through mid-September 1938 (Wyeth Family Archives) indicate Wyeth suffered an acute respiratory illness that summer and often saw Dr. Hall; the painting probably was given as payment or in gratitude for professional services.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from artwork
Photo Credit:Courtesy of Christie's East, 1990