Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Poems of American Patriotism, cover illustration
Alternate Title(s):Doughboy; Soldier with a Bayonet; Soldier with Bayonet
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1922
Dimensions:
40 1/2 × 28 1/2 in. (102.9 × 72.4 cm)
Collection of the Hill School, Pottstown, PA
Accession number: SUPP2000.290
Research Number: NCW: 290
InscribedLower right: W (with circle around it); on verso, study of a man's head and shoulders
ProvenanceThe artist; purchased by Michael F. Sweeney for The Hill School, 1923
Exhibition HistoryGreenville, SC, 1974, no. 64, as "Soldier with Bayonet"; Chadds Ford, PA, 1976(2), as "Soldier with a Bayonet"; Lititz, PA, 1991; Roanoke, VA, 1991; Philadelphia, PA, Union League of Philadelphia, "Artists of the Brandywine River Valley, 1850-1993," May 13 - June 30, 1993, no. 36; Rockland, ME, Farnsworth Art Museum, "Poems of American Patriotism," May 15 - Sept. 26, 2010; Sandwich, MA, Heritage Museum and Gardens, "The Wyeths: America Reflected," June 6 - Sept. 27, 2015;
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 212; "Sweeney's Legacy," Hill (The Hill School Bulletin), Sept. 1980, illus. p. 17; Tom Brokaw, et al, One Nation, Patriots and Pirates Portrayed by N. C. Wyeth and James Wyeth (Boston: Bulfinch Press, Little, Brown and Co., 2000), illus. fig. 30 on p. 31; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.895, p. 434; Martha Severens, "The Wyeths: America Reflected," American Art Review, vol. xxvii, no. 3 (May-June 2015), illus. p. 97;
Curatorial RemarksPentimenti on this painting show that Wyeth originally painted text blocks at the top and bottom of the image, just as it was reproduced as a cover illustration. He must have reworked the image after it was published, painting in the arched top and solid bottom to make the painting more attractive as a wall piece. The Archives of American Art holds a rough sketch for the cover design (Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Dept. records, 1839-1962, Box 6, folder 5, digital image # 7904), which confirms the initial design with two text blocks.
On the reverse of the canvas is a fully executed drawing of a male head; Betsy James Wyeth has suggested the sitter may have been Stimson Wyeth or Anton Kamp.
The unillustrated edition of Poems of American Patriotism that the artist read and annotated in preparation for this commission is in the collection of the Brandywine River Museum (NCWS.95.157). The artist's reaction to the Hill School purchase is expressed in a letter to Arthur L. Bailey, librarian of the Wilmington Institute Library, "At present, I am sitting on top of the world!" (NCW to ALB, May 14, 1923, Wilmington Institute Library).
On the reverse of the canvas is a fully executed drawing of a male head; Betsy James Wyeth has suggested the sitter may have been Stimson Wyeth or Anton Kamp.
The unillustrated edition of Poems of American Patriotism that the artist read and annotated in preparation for this commission is in the collection of the Brandywine River Museum (NCWS.95.157). The artist's reaction to the Hill School purchase is expressed in a letter to Arthur L. Bailey, librarian of the Wilmington Institute Library, "At present, I am sitting on top of the world!" (NCW to ALB, May 14, 1923, Wilmington Institute Library).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. Transparency directly from painting; 2. drawing on reverse of canvas; 3. cover design as published; 4. rough sketch for cover design, Archives of American Art, Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Dept. records, 1839-1962, digital image # 7904).
Photo Credit:1. Rick Echelmeyer, 4/1999; 2. Echelmeyer, 4/1999; 3. BRM staff; 4. Archives of American Art