N. C. Wyeth 1882 - 1945

Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
Bank of Canby, Canby, Minnesota
Beard Art Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Private collection, Minnesota
By descent in the family (sold: Friends of the Institute, Minneapolis Institute of Arts benefit auction, January 29, 1982)
Hammer Galleries, New York, by 1985
J.N. Bartfield Galleries, New York, 1987
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Scribner's Magazine, vol. 59, no. 1, January 1916, illustrated in color as frontispiece
Geoffrey Parson, The Stream of History, New York, 1929, p. 251, illustrated
Ralph Henry Gabriel, ed., The Lure of the Frontier, A Story of Race Conflict, New Haven, Connecticut, 1929, illustrated as frontispiece (as The Pathfinder)
T.J. Wertenbaker and Donald E. Smith, The United States of America, A History, New York, 1931, illustrated opposite p. 256
James Truslow Adams, History of the United States, New York, 1933, vol. 2, illustrated
James Truslow Adams and Charles G. Vannest, The Record of America, New York, 1935, illustrated in color opposite p. 580
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N.C Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals, New York, 1972, p. 276
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N.C. Wyeth: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, vol. I, London, 2008, no. I 599 (699), p. 318, illustrated in color

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Pioneers - The Opening of the Prairies was first published as the illustrated frontispiece of the January 1916 issue of Scribner's Magazine.  By 1935, the image had reappeared in nearly half-a-dozen books on American history.  Wyeth's lucrative and long term relationship with Charles Scribner's Sons publishing house began in 1904, but the terms of his commissions were inconsistent and no contracts survive, if in fact there were any.  Wyeth once said in a letter to his mother "Contracts are a blight on my artistic ardor and turn me into too much of a machine." It is not known whether Pioneers - The Opening of the Prairies was a commissioned work or one Wyeth submitted to Scribner's on speculation.

Wyeth's attention to detail during the early stages of his career established his reputation as a historian and scholar. According to Christine Podmaniczky, "Historical accuracy in costumes and setting was vital to Wyeth, to his editors, and to the reading public, and throughout his career he made extensive use of both primary and secondary reference materials" (N.C. Wyeth: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, p. 28). Wyeth's extensive library covered a broad spectrum of subjects from aspects of seafaring, to English armor, to George Catlin's Indian Gallery. With these numerous resources at his fingertips, he still drew from personal experience as well. The characters in Pioneers - The Opening of the Prairies have roots in the artist's early trips west to the ranches of Colorado and the Ute and Navajo Indian reservations on the New Mexico-Arizona border. While there, Wyeth participated in a round-up, drove a mail route and witnessed a number of Native American ceremonies. He also collected Native American artifacts such as beaded deerskin shirts, moccasins and pottery, as well as a wide variety of other objects including at least three-dozen rifles and muskets from a variety of historical periods. He either received these as gifts or procured them from traders and notable stores like Kolbergh's, where Frederic Remington had purportedly purchased some of his Western artifacts.  While he never intended to faithfully copy these objects into his paintings, their purpose was to engage his artistic imagination and serve as tangible inspiration for his paintings.