"Tobey, fetch me the key to the springhouse"

Artist:

N.C. Wyeth

(American, 1882 - 1945)

"Tobey, fetch me the key to the springhouse"

Alternate Title(s):Instruction for a Julep; Instructions for a Julep
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1935
Dimensions:
47 1/4 × 36 in. (120 × 91.4 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.565
Research Number: NCW: 565
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenancePrivate collection, Spring Lake, NJ, by 1973; Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, NY, Feb. 2, 1979, lot no. 533, as "Instruction for a Julep"; (Craig and Tarlton, Inc., Raleigh, NC, May, 1979); Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.103, p. 670-671
References Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 294
Curatorial RemarksThe Brandywine River Museum holds an oversized archival photograph which probably depicts an earlier design drawn in charcoal on canvas and showing significant changes made in the composition. The depth of the porch was increased by lengthening the column on the left and by eliminating several steps that appeared in the foreground of the drawn design. The wider porch increased the sense of space, which effects the sense of southern graciousness and prosperity that was important to the "story" line. The Museum also holds a proof and tear sheet (#4748 a and b).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1.) Transparency directly from painting; 2.) Archival photograph, Brandywine River Museum Library
Photo Credit:1.) Jerry Blow, 5/22/2006