Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Old Albert
Alternate Title(s):Albert Warner
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: ca. 1928
Dimensions:
36 × 40 in. (91.4 × 101.6 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.1092
Research Number: NCW: 1092
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth; Frank E. Fowler, Lookout Mountain, TN, ca. 1975 to 1999; Private collection, Atlanta, GA, to 2010; (New York, NY, Christie's, Dec. 1, 2010, lot no. 70)
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1930(1), no. 29; West Chester, PA, 1933, no. 70; Philadelphia, PA, 1935(2); West Chester, PA, 1935(2), no. 3; Chadds Ford, PA, 1995, no. 6, b/w illustration p. 26
References
"Wyeths Hold One-Family Exhibition," Philadelphia Record, March 31, 1935, 4: p. 6; C. H. Bonte, "That Gifted Wyeth Family Exhibiting at the Alliance," Philadelphia Inquirer, March 31, 1935, p. SO 9; Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950, " unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 95; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), P.31, p. 812; Christine B. Podmaniczky, "N. C. Wyeth, American Regionalist" in Rural Modern, American Art Beyond the City (NY: Rizzoli, 2016), p. 159, illus. in color, p. 159;
Curatorial RemarksIn the fall of 1929 Wyeth sent this painting to the Art Institute of Chicago for the 42nd Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture (NCW to Peter Hurd, Oct. 16, 1929, Wyeth Family Archives) but the painting was not selected (Peter Hastings Falk, Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago, Madison, CT:Soundview Press, 1990 or http://www.artic.edu/sites/default/files/libraries/pubs/1929/AIC1929PandS42ndAn_comb.pdf). The Brandywine River Museum library (#3204) holds an archival photograph of the work inscribed in ink on the reverse in the artist's hand: Albert Warner. / N. C. W. A pencilled notation gives the dimensions and the date 1928. An archival photograph shows the picture in an Arts and Crafts style molding with floral decoration in the corners; however, an inventory of frames (NCWS.95.6537) found in Wyeth's studio lists "Old Albert (Spanish) 36 x 40" which indicates that the artist also showed the picture in a fairly wide black and gold frame of geometric design, similar to that on NCW 300.
According to Andrew Wyeth, Albert Warner was an old whaler from New Bedford who lived in Chadds Ford in the 1920s and 1930s; the windmill in the background, situated behind the Chadds Ford Hotel, is the same windmill that appears in several of N. C. Wyeth's views of Chadds Ford, for example NCW 45 and NCW 2356. Henriette Wyeth also painted Warner, a picture Andrew Wyeth believes was one of her "best" (Andrew Wyeth recollections, Brandywine River Museum, catalogue raisonne files).
According to Andrew Wyeth, Albert Warner was an old whaler from New Bedford who lived in Chadds Ford in the 1920s and 1930s; the windmill in the background, situated behind the Chadds Ford Hotel, is the same windmill that appears in several of N. C. Wyeth's views of Chadds Ford, for example NCW 45 and NCW 2356. Henriette Wyeth also painted Warner, a picture Andrew Wyeth believes was one of her "best" (Andrew Wyeth recollections, Brandywine River Museum, catalogue raisonne files).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. Transparency directly from painting; 2. archival photograph (Brandywine River Museum library # 3204) showing an earlier framing
Photo Credit:1. Rick Echelmeyer, 1995; 2. photographer unknown