Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Alaska
Alternate Title(s):Alaskan Scene; The Yukon Freighter
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1907
Dimensions:
51 1/4 x 34 1/4 in. (130.2 x 87 cm)
Painting destroyed by fire, 1969
Accession number: SUPP2000.624
Research Number: NCW: 624
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined) / 07 (from reproduction)
ProvenanceCream of Wheat Corp., 1907-1962; National Biscuit Co. (Nabisco), to 1969
References
Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), p. 200, as "The Yukon Freighter"; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 143, as "Alaska"; Zack Taylor, "The Outdoor Illustrations of N. C. Wyeth," Sports Afield, vol. 183, no. 6 (June 1980), p. 73; Patricia Condon Johnston, "Artists of the Cereal Ads," Americana Magazine, Aug. 1982, p. 34; David Stivers, The Nabisco Brands Collection of Cream of Wheat Advertising Art (San Diego, CA: Collectors' Showcase, Inc., 1986), p. 30 as "The Yukon Freighter"; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.3, p. 638
Curatorial Remarks"I sailed in last Wednesday and started a whopper of a Cream of Wheat picture--one Stimson would go wild over--"An Esquimaux Half-breed" on top of his dog sledge of freight, protecting himself from a pack of wolves, late afternoon on a great frozen lake. Incidentally, there is a case of Cream of Wheat amongst the canned goods and flour. The title is "The Yukon Freighter." The picture is about five feet high and three feet wide; I completed it today" (Betsy James Wyeth, ed., p. 200). The painting was destroyed in a fire at a restorer's studio in 1969.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. from b/w photograph of painting taken in 1967, in Brandywine River Museum curatorial files; 2. as reproduced in magazines (Brandywine River Museum Library, tear sheet)