N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)The Odyssey of Homer, endpaper illustration1929Ink and gouache on heavy paper, image size: 5 5/8 x 15 1/4 in. (14.2 x 38.7 cm) sheet size: 13 3/4 x 22 3/4 in. (34.9 x 57.7 cm)Brandywine River MuseumBequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
NCW NUMBER
1232
TITLE
The Odyssey of Homer, endpaper illustration
MEDIUM
Ink and gouache on heavy paper
INSCRIPTION(S), LABEL(S)
In pencil on recto, matting marks; in pencil on verso: The Odyssey-- / Endpaper--; in ink on verso: 85 (circled); label adhered to verso: The Print Club of Philadelphia / 1614 Latimer Street / An Exhibition of Book Illustration / March 27th to April 8th, 1937 / (in ink in NCW's hand) N.C. WYETH / CHADDS FORD PA / END PAPER FOR HOMER'S / "ODYSSEY"
SUBJECT
illustration
DATE
1929
PROVENANCE
The artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth
EXHIBITION HISTORY
Philadelphia, PA, Print Club of Philadelphia, "An Exhibition of Book Illustration," March 27 - April 8, 1937
INITIAL USE
Endpaper illustration, George Herbert Palmer, trans., The Odyssey of Homer (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1929)
The Wyeth Family Archives includes the copy of the book that N. C. Wyeth read and annotated in preparation for the commission, The Odyssey of Homer, translated by George Herbert Palmer, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1891. The book was found with notes about the commission in NCW's hand, a copy of a letter to Lovell Thompson of Houghton Mifflin dated August 3, 1929, Thompson's reply, dated August 7, 1929, and notes made by NCW for the Illustrator's preface.
This image was used on the folder announcing "A Most Unusual Collection of Original Paintings Showing Some of the Recent Experiments of N. C. Wyeth," an exhibition on view in the galleries of the American Lithographic Company, Inc., New York (Brandywine River Museum library, #4840). The year is not given.
Besides displaying the original art work at the Print Club exhibition of 1937, Wyeth included a framed reproduction of the image which was for sale but did not sell. (Brandywine River Museum library, N. C. Wyeth archives)
