Pre WW II
North American Art
20th Century Art


North American Art
Before the Second World War

Newell Convers Wyeth

 

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Newell Convers Wyeth

born: Needham, Massachusetts, US; 22 October 1882
died: Chadds Ford, PA, US; 19 October 1945 (The car he was driving was struck by a train.)

 wyet whyet

Summary Biography

1898 16  Mechanic Arts School in Boston, to learn drafting
1899 17 Graduated from MAS; went to Massachusetts Normal Arts School
1901 19 Studies at Eric Pape School of Art in Boston and with Charles Reed, a book illustrator
1902 20 Clifford Ashley convinces him to go to Wilmington, Delaware to attend the Howard Pyle School. First commercial sale for a painting of a bucking bronco and cowboy to the Saturday Evening Post for the cover of 21 Feb 1903.
1904 22 Trip to the West sponsored by Saturday Evening Post.
1905 23

Jan. Became engaged to Carolyn Bockius.

Mar: Goes to Theodore Roosevelt's inauguration in Washington DC

1906 24 Feb: Second trip to the West this time for Outgoing Magazine Apr 16 Got married to Carolyn. Began to feel Pyle was taking advantage of him... began to hate Magazine work.

 

 Wyeth, N C: Onion House

Onion House
c 1898
Watercolor on paper
10×14 in.
Brandywine River Museum
Chadds Ford, PA, US

Wyeth, N C: The Ore Wagon 

The Ore Wagon
1907
"The Misadventures of Cassidy"
by Edward S Moffat
McClure's Magazine, May 1908
Oil on Canvas,
38×25 in
First Interstate Bank of Arizona
Phoenix, AZ, US

Wyeth, N C: Bronco Buster

Bronco Buster
1907
Cream of Wheat Advertisement
Oil on Canvas, -
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minneapolis, MN, US

Wyeth, N C: The Plains Herder

The Plains Herder
1908
"A Sheep-Herder of the Southwest"
by N.C. Wyeth
Scribner's Magazine, Jan 1909

Oil on Canvas
37¼×28¼ in
First Interstate Bank of Arizona
Phoenix, AZ, US

Wyeth, N C: 
The Pay Stage

The Pay Stage
1909
Scribner's Magazine, Aug 1910
Oil on Canvas
38
×26½ in
First Interstae Bank of Arizona
Phoenix, AZ, US

Wyeth, N C: Winter. "Death"

Winter. "Death"
1909
"The Moods" George T Marsh
Scribner's Magazine, Dec 1909
Oil on Canvas
33×30 in
Collection: Andrew Wyeth
Chadds Ford, PA, US

 

1907 25

Rented a 45 acre farm in Chadds Ford

22 Oct: First daughter, Henriette, was born

1909 27

Convers visits the German Contemporary Exhibition in New York finds the European art "interesting".

A Sheepherder of the Southwest written and illustrated by Convers appeared in Jan 1909 issue of Scribner's

26 Oct: Second daughter, Carolyn, was born

1910 28 Illustrates Arthur Conan Doyle's First Load Travels to Virginia to research illustrations for a Civil War Book by Mary Johnston "The Long Roll"
1911 29

Scribner's gives him Robert Lewis Stevenson's Treasure Island to Illustrate.

Buys an 18 acre farm in Chadds Ford; names it: Wyndtryst

First mural commission for four life-sized Indian pictures for Hotel Utica.

24 Oct: First son, Nathaniel Convers, was born.

14 Nov: Howard Pyle dies.

1913 31 Illustrates Robert Lewis Stevenson's: Kidnapped published by Scribner's
1914 32

World War II starts in Europe.

Convers refuses to become a "war painter" for the magazine industry.

 

Wyeth, N C: The First Cargo

The First Cargo
1910
"Through the Mists II: The First Cargo" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Scribner's Magazine, Dec 1910
Oil on Canvas, -
New York Public Library, Children's Room
New York, NY, US

Wyeth, N C: Old Pew (Blind Pew)

Old Pew (Blind Pew)
1911
"Treasure Island"
by Robert Lewis Stevenson
Charles Scribner's Sons

Oil on Canvas
47
×38 in
Collection: Andrew Wyeth

Wyeth, N C: Self Portrait

Self Portrait
1913
Oil on Canvas
18¼
×12¼ in
Collection: Nicholas Wyeth

Wyeth, N C: At the Cards in Cluny's Cage

At the Cards in Cluny's Cage
1913
"Kidnapped"
by Robert Lewis Stevenson
Charles Scribner's Sons

Oil on Canvas; 40×32 in
Brandywine River Museum
Chadds Ford, PA, US

Wyeth, N C: "We Must be in the Dungeons"

"We Must be in the Dungeons"
1916

 

 

Wyeth, N C: The Astrologer

The Astrologer
(On the fourth day comes the Astrologer from his crumbling old tower)
1916
"The Mysterious Stranger"
by Mark Twain
Harper and Brothers
Oil on Canvas; 40×32 in
Diamond M. Foundation Fine Art Collection
Lubbock, TX, US

 

1915 33

15 Mar: third daughter, Ann, was born

Began teaching art to a group of four students

1917 35

12 Jul: second son, Andrew, was born

Illustrates
Mark Twain: Mysterious Stranger
Robert Lewis Stevenson: Black Arrow
Paul Creswick: Robin Hood
Sydney Lanier: The Boy's King Arthur
Jules Verne: The Mysterious Island

 

Wyeth, N C: Last of the Chestnuts

Last of the Chestnuts
1917
Oil on Canvas; 37¼×49
¼ in
Diamond M Foundation Fine Art Collection
Lubbock, TX, US

 

Wyeth, N C: Robin Hood and the Men of Greenwood

Robin Hood and the Men of Greenwood
1917
Cover, Robin Hood by Paul Creswick
David McKay
Oil on Canvas,
New York Public Library
New York, NY, US

Wyeth, N C: Robin Meets Maid Marion

Robin Meets Maid Marion
1917
Cover, Robin Hood by Paul Creswick
David McKay
Oil on Canvas,
New York Public Library
New York, NY, US

 

Wyeth, N C: Sir Tristram and La Belle Isolde
in the Garden

Sir Tristram and La Belle Isolde
in the Garden

1917
The Boy's King Arthur by Sidney Lanier
Charles Scribner's Sons

Oil On Canvas
39
¾×32 in
Brandywine River Museum
Chadds Ford, PA, US

 

Wyeth, N C: The Fight in the Forest

The Fight in the Forest
c 1918
"The Last of the Mohicans"
by James Fenimore Cooper
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1919
Oil on Canvas,
40
½×32¼ in
Brandywine River Museum
Chadds Ford, PA, US

Wyeth, N C: The Captives

The Captives
1919
"The Last of the Mohicans"
by James Fenimore Cooper
Charles Scribner's Sons
Private Collection

 

Wyeth, N C: Aunt Jemima at the Columbian Exposition in 1893

Aunt Jemima at the Columbian Exposition in 1893
c 1919
Aunt Jemima Mills Co. Advertisement 1921
Quaker Oats Company
St. Joseph MO, US

Wyeth, N C: John Oxenham

John Oxenham
1920
"Westward Ho" by Charles Kingsley
Charles Scribner's Sons

Oil on Canvas,
40×30 in
Brandywine River Museum
Chadds Ford, PA, US

Wyeth, N C: Buttonwood Farm

Buttonwood Farm
1920
Oil on Canvas,
48
½ ×42¼ in
Reading Public Museum
Reading, PA, US

 

Wyeth, N C: Great Cross

Great Cross
"— and making it into a great cross
I set it up on the shore
where I first landed "
1920
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Cosmopolitan Book Corp.
Oil On Canvas
Wilmington Institute Library
Wilmington, DE, US

Wyeth, N C: Foot Prints

Foot Prints
"I stood like one thunderstruck
or as if I hand seen an apparition"
1920
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Cosmopolitan Book Corp.
Oil On Canvas,
40×30 in
Wilmington Institute Library
Wilmington, DE, US

Wyeth, N C: Bible Reading

Bible Reading
"And in the morning I took the Bible
and beginning at the New Testament
I began seriously to read it"

1920
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Cosmopolitan Book Corp.
Oil On Canvas,
40×30 in
Wilmington Institute Library
Wilmington, DE, US

 

 

1920 38 Buys a sea captains house in Port Clyde Maine; names it: "Eight Bells"
1921 39 Takes the family back to Needham Mass for a year.
1923 41 Family moves back to Pennsylvania.
1925 43 11 Aug: His mother dies

 

Wyeth, N C: The Giant

The Giant
1923
Oil on Canvas; 72×60 in
Westtown School
Westtown, PA, US

 

Wyeth, N C: Iris and Oranges

Iris and Oranges
c 1924
Delaware Art Museum
Wilmington, DE, US

Wyeth, N C: Onions

Onions
c 1924
Brandywine River Museum
Chadds Ford, PA, US

 

Wyeth, N C: Old Kris

Old Kris
1925
Cover, Country Gentleman, Dec 1925
Oil on Canvas; 34×30¼ in.

 

Wyeth, N C: Francis Parkman

Francis Parkman
c.1925
Fronspiece, "The Oregon Trail"
by Francis Parkman
Little Brown and Company
Oil on Canvas
40×28 in
National Cowboy Hall of Fame
Oklahoma City, OK, US

Wyeth, N C: An Indian War Party

An Indian War Party
c.1925
"The Oregon Trail" by Francis Parkman
Oil on Canvas
38
½×29 in
Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum
Los Angeles, CA, US

Wyeth, N C: The Water Hole

The Water Hole
c.1925
Endpaper, "The Oregon Trail"
by Francis Parkman
Oil on Canvas
28×36 in
First Interstate Bank of Arizona
Phoenix, AZ, US

 

 

1931 48 Style of landscapes and portraits changed. Painted surface became thinner.
1937 55 Egg tempera medium introduced in Chadds Ford by Peter Hurd, one of his sons-in-law. Began to work in a new style appropriate to egg tempera. His palette with egg tempera tends to be less vivid. Paintings in this new style are Deep Island Funeral(1939), The War Letter (1941), and Springhouse (1944), all shown below.

 

Wyeth, N C: Cowboy Watering
His Horse

Cowboy Watering
His Horse

c 1937
Coke Advertisement
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX, US

Wyeth, N C: The Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact
1939
America in the Making,
John Morrel & Co Calendar 1940

Oil + Tempera on Panel,
26½
×24½ in
University Art Collection
Iowa State University
Ames, IA, US

 

Wyeth, N C: George Washington at Yorktown

George Washington at Yorktown
1939
America in the Making,
John Morrel & Co Calendar 1940

Oil + Tempera on Panel,
26
½×25 in
University Art Collection
Iowa State University
Ames, IA, US

Wyeth, N C: Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone
1939
America in the Making,
John Morrel & Co Calendar 1940

Oil + Tempera on Panel,
26
½×25 in
University Art Collection
Iowa State University
Ames, IA, US

Wyeth, N C: Captain John Paul Jones

Captain John Paul Jones
1939
America in the Making,
John Morrel & Co Calendar 1940

Oil + Tempera on Panel,
27
×25 in
University Art Collection
Iowa State University
Ames, IA, US

Wyeth, N C: Lewis and Clark

Lewis and Clark
1939
America in the Making,
John Morrel & Co Calendar 1940

Oil + Tempera on Panel,
26½
×24¼ in
University Art Collection
Iowa State University
Ames, IA, US

 

Wyeth, N C: Island Funeral

Island Funeral
1939
Egg tempera on Panel,
47
½×55¼ in
Hotel DuPont Collection of American Art
Wilmington, DE, US

Wyeth, N C: The War Letter

The War Letter
1941
Egg tempera on Panel,
26½
×37½ in
New Britain Museum of American Art
New Britain, CT, US

 

 

Wyeth, N C: Covered Wagons

Covered Wagons
1940
Calendar Illustration
Oil and egg tempera on panel,
26 1/8
×24½ in
Iowa State University
Ames, IA, US

Wyeth, N C: Columbus Sights
the New World

Columbus Sights
the New World

1942
Oil on Gesso board,
26
×23 in.
location unknown

Wyeth, N C: A New World in View

A New World in View
1943
Our America: Transportation,
educational poster
Oil on Canvas,
27
×39½ in
Coca-Cola Co. Archives
Atlanta, GA, US

 

Wyeth, N C: Springhouse

Springhouse
1944
Egg tempera on panel
36
×48 in
Delaware Art Museum
Wilmington, DE, US

 

 

1945 63 Killed with one of his grandsons, Newell Convers Wyeth II, when his car was hit by a train.

 

Places to look for N. C. Wyeth art:

The Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, contains the largest collection of N.C. Wyeth's artwork, and offers tours of his Chadds Ford home and studio.

The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine has many Wyeth paintings of the Maine coast, where he spent his summers from 1920 to 1945.

The Wilmington Public Library and the Delaware Art Museum, in Wilmington, Delaware, the New York Public Library, in New York City, the Philadelphia Free Library, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, all have collections of his paintings.

 

 

Pre WW II
North American Art
20th Century Art

2005-08-21