- 43
N. C. Wyeth 1882 - 1945
Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 USD
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Description
- N. C. Wyeth
- The Cowboy's Life
- signed N.C. WYETH (lower right)
- oil on hardboard
- 40 by 30 inches
- (101.6 by 76.2 cm)
- Painted in 1938.
Provenance
Ginn and Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1938 (commissioned from the artist)
Exhibited
New York, New-York Historical Society, Two Hundred Years of American Illustration, November 1976-December 1977, no. 894, illustrated in color p. 60
Literature
Mabelle Glenn et al., eds., The World of Music: Song Programs for Youth; Adventure, Boston, Massachusetts, 1938, illustrated in color opp. p. 113
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N.C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals, New York, 1972, p. 206
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N.C. Wyeth: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 2008, vol. II, no. I.1251, p. 566, illustrated in color
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N.C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals, New York, 1972, p. 206
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N.C. Wyeth: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 2008, vol. II, no. I.1251, p. 566, illustrated in color
Condition
This work is in excellent condition. Under UV: there is no apparent inpainting.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Born in 1882 on a farm in Needham, Massachusetts, N.C. Wyeth always possessed an appreciation for subjects that encapsulated distinct qualities of American life. In the fall of 1902, a young and talented Wyeth, at the urging of his fellow art students at the Eric Pape School of Art, submitted a group of drawings to the acclaimed illustrator Howard Pyle for possible admission to his eponymous school in Wilmington, Delaware. To Wyeth's surprise, he was accepted by the very selective Pyle, and ultimately thrived under his tutelage.
As early as 1904, Wyeth recognized the value of real-life adventures and he traveled west in search of material. This trip and those that followed provided Wyeth with years of material to fulfill his audience's growing appetite for images of the Wild West. Kate Jennings writes, "The untamed, wide open territories of the American West and the equally spirited characters who lived there at the turn of the century were the subjects of N.C. Wyeth's earliest published illustrations... Although [Wyeth] was familiar with the popular and dramatic western paintings of Frederic Remington...he yearned to show the simpler, majestic qualities of these vast and unpopulated Rocky Mountains and the plains that stretched out below them... There was also a special solitude to the West that appealed to Wyeth and he was able to convey this mood in his paintings..." (N.C. Wyeth, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1992, p. 19).
Wyeth's career flourished during what is today known as the golden age of illustration. From the time his first drawing was published on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1903, until his death in 1945, the demand for and success of Wyeth's work was continuous and strong. In 1938, the publisher Ginn and Company commissioned Wyeth to produce a series of works for three related educational books bearing the title The World of Music, Song Programs for Youths. The Cowboy's Life, along with five other works, was illustrated in the volume subtitled Adventure. The other volumes were subtitled Discovery and Treasure.
The Cowboy's Life is fittingly dramatic and dynamic. As his horse gallops along the dusty plain, the cowboy prepares his lariat and targets the herd of stampeding cattle. Wyeth's image successfully conjures all the elements of a classic Western scene, and reaffirms the idea of adventure that the frontier evoked.
As early as 1904, Wyeth recognized the value of real-life adventures and he traveled west in search of material. This trip and those that followed provided Wyeth with years of material to fulfill his audience's growing appetite for images of the Wild West. Kate Jennings writes, "The untamed, wide open territories of the American West and the equally spirited characters who lived there at the turn of the century were the subjects of N.C. Wyeth's earliest published illustrations... Although [Wyeth] was familiar with the popular and dramatic western paintings of Frederic Remington...he yearned to show the simpler, majestic qualities of these vast and unpopulated Rocky Mountains and the plains that stretched out below them... There was also a special solitude to the West that appealed to Wyeth and he was able to convey this mood in his paintings..." (N.C. Wyeth, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1992, p. 19).
Wyeth's career flourished during what is today known as the golden age of illustration. From the time his first drawing was published on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1903, until his death in 1945, the demand for and success of Wyeth's work was continuous and strong. In 1938, the publisher Ginn and Company commissioned Wyeth to produce a series of works for three related educational books bearing the title The World of Music, Song Programs for Youths. The Cowboy's Life, along with five other works, was illustrated in the volume subtitled Adventure. The other volumes were subtitled Discovery and Treasure.
The Cowboy's Life is fittingly dramatic and dynamic. As his horse gallops along the dusty plain, the cowboy prepares his lariat and targets the herd of stampeding cattle. Wyeth's image successfully conjures all the elements of a classic Western scene, and reaffirms the idea of adventure that the frontier evoked.