N.C. Wyeth

by Joan M. Rehlin
One of our mini art history posts...
N. (Newell) C. (Convers) Wyeth (10/22/1882–10/19/1945) was a renowned American artist and patriarch of a family of famous artists, notably son Andrew and grandson Jamie. Wyeth began creating watercolors at age 12, and his artistic interests were inspired and encouraged by his mother who was acquainted with Thoreau and Longfellow. He studied at the Howard Pyle School of Art in Delaware with Pyle, himself, where Wyeth refined his craft as a painter and illustrator. 

​Wyeth created over 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books during his lifetime, earning particular acclaim for the art he provided for Charles Scribner’s Sons. Among his book illustrations were creations for Treasure Island in the 1910s. Wyeth also expanded Scribner’s Illustrated Classics, a line of children’s books that included The Yearling, Kidnapped, and The Last of the Mohicans, and his illustrations gave children’s stories a realism seldom seen before then. In addition, Wyeth created posters, calendars, and other ads for clients such as Coca-Cola and Lucky Strike, and painted murals for various banks, hotels, and other public and private buildings. His non-illustrative landscape and portrait paintings changed in style from impressionism in the 1910s to realism in the 1930s. In 1941 N.C. Wyeth was elected to the National Academy. 

Wyeth wed Carolyn Bockius in 1908, and the couple settled in the village of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania where they raised five children and resided for the remainder of his life. The painting shown here depicts the beautiful countryside surrounding Wyeth’s home. 

Chadds Ford Hills, oil on canvas, c. 1931, N.C. Wyeth