Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Pyle's Barn by Moonlight
Alternate Title(s):White House
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1908 / 1912
Dimensions:
25 1/4 × 30 1/8 in. (64.1 × 76.5 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.1068
Research Number: NCW: 1068
InscribedNone
ProvenanceMrs. N. C. Wyeth to 1967; (?); (Christie's East, New York, NY, June 10, 1992, lot no. 453, as "White House;" no sale); (Schoonover Studios Ltd., Wilmington, DE, ca. 1993)
References
Probably Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950, " unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 97; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), L.23, p. 708
Curatorial RemarksThis work and NCW 2419 are probably Wyeth's earliest views of a motif he painted for over a decade. Wyeth wrote to his mother in October 1908 a lengthy description of a successful "moonlight landscape" of a motif that appealed to him "profoundly" (NCW to Henriette Zirngiebel Wyeth, "My pipe's full..." and dated in another hand Oct. 9, 1908, Wyeth Family Archives). Although there is not certain evidence to link the letter to this particular painting, the work is only one of two known night landscapes from the period and must be considered. The barn sat on Baltimore Pike (present day Route 1) across from the property he rented in Chadds Ford from April 1908 to March 1911. The Chadds Ford Pyles were not directly related to Howard Pyle.
The painting was sold in 1967 accompanied by a notarized letter from Mrs. Andrew Wyeth identifying the subject and stating that painting had remained in the family until 1967.
The painting was sold in 1967 accompanied by a notarized letter from Mrs. Andrew Wyeth identifying the subject and stating that painting had remained in the family until 1967.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Photography from artwork
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer, digital photography from snapshot, 12/1/2006