N. C. Wyeth ( 1882-1945 )
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Massasoit - c.1945 Charcoal on paper 35 x 51 inches
Signed and inscribed (at lower right): N.C.W./Panel 311 Inscribed (at lower center): 15 Slides Titled (at lower left): Massasoit Click image for detailed view |
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Provenance:
The artist
Ann Wyeth and John W. McCoy (daughter and son-in-law of the artist)
Ann B. McCoy, (granddaughter of the artist)
Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, Delaware
Private Collection, acquired from the above, 1997-2007
Gliding silently through the waters of a remote pass, Massassoit exudes a sense of dignity and calm despite carrying with him only a peace pipe for protection. Chieftain of the Wampanoag, a tribe located in the region of present-day southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, he appears to be bound for his historic visit to the settlement of Plymouth in 1621. Responsible for negotiating and maintaining a peace between his tribes and the pilgrims, Massassoit has been recognized as a key figure in the survival of the Plymouth colony and its residents.
N.C. Wyeth, in his romanticized version of the event, focuses on the emotional tension of the scene by narrowing the surrounding details to the bare essentials. Expertly shaded boulders, with clusters of foliage peeping around their contours, enclose the travelers in a private scene. The serious and noble demeanor of the chief is intensified by the reflection of the canoe’s long hull and its passengers in the still water below. The mirroring of the scene serves to heighten the feeling of introspection that suffuses the work.
Divided into quadrants, a method for enlarging works of art, this drawing served as a preparatory study for a series of mural paintings that the artist was commissioned to create by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1939. One of the most beloved illustrators of all time, Wyeth was a versatile artist who relished the unique challenges inherent in various forms of art-making. The Met Life commission, one of the most extensive and difficult of the artist’s career, also held a special importance for him because the murals were intended to express the spirit of New England. Descended from colonial stock and raised in a town close to Plymouth, he often expressed his personal pride in his heritage, a feeling which is certainly conveyed in these paintings.
Relating events both large and small in the lives of the colonial settlers, the completed murals demonstrate the artist’s devotion to historical accuracy while also showing his optimistic approach to life. His use of rich colors conveys the warmth and vitality of the settlers and counters the lore of drab costumes and sullen countenances. Portraying epic moments ranging from the arrival of the Mayflower to the marriage of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins with a cheerful, lyrical hand, Wyeth also brought to life the activities of their daily lives, such as going to church, gathering the harvest, and hunting game.
Envisioned as a set of eighteen distinct images, the mural series remained incomplete at the time of Wyeth’s unexpected death in 1945. Determined to see his father’s final project through to completion, Andrew Newell Wyeth, also a prominent painter, and his brother-in-law John W. McCoy finished the remaining canvases. The works were finally installed in 1947. McCoy, who had been an apprentice of the elder Wyeth’s, painted the mural version of Massasoit based on this preparatory drawing. A faithful reproduction, the painting bears few compositional differences but fails to capture the powerful emotional nuances of N.C. Wyeth’s original drawing.
