NEWELL CONVERS WYETH (AMERICAN 1882–1945) "SAILOR LEANING AGAINST A WALL"

Signed 'NC Wyeth' bottom right, charcoal on laid paper
Sheet size: 23 7/8 x 18 1/4 in. (60.6 x 46.4cm)

Provenance: The Artist.
The Artist's wife, Mrs. N.C. Wyeth.
By descent in the family.
The Artist's grandson, Nicholas Wyeth.
Acquired directly from the above in July 1972.
Aldis Brown, New York, New York.
Parke Bernet, New York, sale of March 21, 1974, lot 15.
Bucholz Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Collection of Samuel Nowak.
Collection of Donald C. Strain.
Collection of Mr. Robert Coates, New Jersey.
NOTE:
Born in Needham, Massachusetts in 1882, N.C. Wyeth showed an early passion for drawing. While his mother supported this temperament, his dad instead proved more reluctant and encouraged him to learn a trade and stay in regular school. Ultimately, the parents of the artist came to an agreement and enrolled him in the Massachusetts Normal Arts School with further study at the Eric Pape School of Art in 1900. By 1901, Wyeth was in Annisquam, Massachusetts, attending private classes instructed by George L. Noyes, a noted landscape artist. The year after, he was to meet Howard Pyle, one of the country's most renowned illustrators, and Wyeth's favorite teacher.
The present drawing is very much representative of the type of work N.C. Wyeth did as a student before joining the Howard Pyle School in 1902. According to Christine B. Podmaniczky, "it could have been done during Wyeth's spring semester at Massachusetts Normal Art School for a class described as Model, charcoal". It could also have been done at the Eric Pape School in Boston, during the fall term of 1900. Indeed, Pape's school brochure for 1901-1902, which included photographs of the student exhibition held in June 1901, featured drawings that look like they were done in the same modeling session.