The Last of the Mohicans
c. 1919
N. C. Wyeth
[1882 – 1945]
Newell Converse Wyeth
c.1920
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Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 –
October 19, 1945), known as N.C. Wyeth,
was an American artist and illustrator.
Wyeth in his studio, 1903 or 1904
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Newell Convers Wyeth was born in
Needham, Massachusetts on October 22,
1882. His grandparents were Swiss
immigrants and N.C. himself grew up on a
farm surrounded by immigrant values and
customs.
He attended Mechanic Arts High School in
Boston through May 1899, concentrating on
drafting.
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With his mother's support he transferred to
Massachusetts Normal Art School, and there
instructor Richard Andrews urged him toward
illustration.
His mother, Henriette Zirngiebel Wyeth,
encouraged his artistic talent while
conversely, his father Andrew Newell Wyeth
II, called an artist's life "shiftless, almost
criminal."
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When two of his friends were accepted to Howard Pyle's
School of Art in Wilmington, Delaware and Chadds Ford,
Pennsylvania, Wyeth was invited to try to join them in
1902.
Howard Pyle was the "father" of American illustration,
and Wyeth immediately meshed with his methods and
ideals.
Pyle’s approach included excursions to historical sites
and impromptu dramas using props and costumes,
meant to stimulate imagination, emotion, atmosphere,
and the observation of humans in action—all necessities
for his style of illustration.
Pyle stressed historical accuracy and tinged it with a
romantic aura.
But where Pyle painted in exquisite detail, Wyeth veered
toward looser, quicker strokes and relied on ominous
shadows and moody backgrounds.
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Wyeth’s exuberant personality and talent
made him a standout student.
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A robust, powerfully built young man with
strangely delicate hands, he ate a lot less
than his size implied.
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He admired great literature, music, and
drama, and he enjoyed spirited conversation.
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Only five months after starting Pyle’s art
school, A painting of a bucking bronco for the
cover of The Saturday Evening Post on
February 21, 1903 was Wyeth's first
commission as an illustrator.
That year he described his work as "true,
solid American subjects–nothing foreign
about them." Wyeth found early success
producing illustrations for The Saturday
Evening Post.
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It was a spectacular accomplishment for the
21-year-old Wyeth, after just a few months
under Pyle’s tutelage.
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In 1904, the same magazine commissioned
him to illustrate a Western story, and Pyle
urged Wyeth to go West to acquire direct
knowledge, much as Zane Grey had done for
his Western novels.
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In Colorado, he worked as a cowboy
alongside the professional "punchers,"
moving cattle and doing ranch chores.
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He visited the Navajo in Arizona and gained
an understanding of Native American culture.
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When his money was stolen, he worked as a
mail carrier on horseback to gain back
needed funds.
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He wrote home, "The life is wonderful,
strange—the fascination of it clutches me like
some unseen animal—it seems to whisper,
'Come back, you belong here, this is your
real home.' "
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On a second trip two years later, he collected
information on mining and brought home
costumes and artifacts, including cowboy and
Indian clothing.
His early trips to the western United States
inspired a period of images of cowboys and
Native Americans that dramatized the Old
West.
His depictions of Native Americans tended to
be sympathetic, showing them in harmony
with their environment, as demonstrated by In
the Crystal Depths (1906).
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His three trips between 1904 and 1906 to the
western United States inspired a period
which produced illustrations of cowboys and
Native Americans that dramatized the Old
West.
Wyeth's travels were inspired by those of
renowned American West artist, Frederic
Remington, whom he had admired as a
child.
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Wyeth's pictures of Native Americans from
this period show their unique and solitary
relationship to nature.
One of his most popular was of a woodland
Indian, titled, The Moose Call, painted in
1904.
Pictures from the "Indian in His Solitude
Series" were printed in a 1907 issue of
Outing magazine.
c.1907 In the Crystal Depths
Winter c. 1909
The Hunter c. 1907
N.C. Wyeth in his Western “Rig," 1904
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Upon returning to Chadds Ford, he painted a series
of farm scenes for Scribner's, finding the landscape
less dramatic than that of the West but nonetheless
a rich environment for his art: “Everything lies in
its subtleties, everything is so gentle and simple,
so unaffected.”
His painting Mowing (1907), not done for illustration,
was among the most successful images of rural life,
rivaling Winslow Homer's great scenes of Americana
Howard Pyle
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In 1894 he began teaching illustration at the
Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry in
Philadelphia (now Drexel University),
After 1900 he founded his own school of art
and illustration called the Howard Pyle
School of Illustration Art.
The term the Brandywine School was later
applied to the illustration artists and Wyeth
family artists of the Brandywine region (later
called the Brandywine School)
Pyle is considered the Father of Illustration.
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Pyle was one of the country's most renowned
illustrators.
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Wyeth was the star pupil of artist Howard
Pyle and became one of America's greatest
illustrators.
His 1883
classic The Merry Adventures of
Howard
Pyle
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Robin Hood remains in print to this day, and
his other books, frequently with medieval
European settings, include a four-volume set
on King Arthur that cemented his reputation.
He wrote an original novel, Otto of the Silver
Hand, in 1888.
He also illustrated historical and adventure
stories for periodicals such as Harper's
Weekly and St. Nicholas Magazine.
His novel Men of Iron was made into a movie
in 1954, The Black Shield of Falworth.
Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911)
Pirates fight over treasure Howard Pyle illustration
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While studying with Pyle, Wyeth met his
future wife, Carolyn Bockius, whose family
lived three blocks from the Pyle Studios on
Gilpin Avenue.
According to Wyeth's biographer, "By all
accounts she was the prettiest girl in
Wilmington."
N.C. Wyeth
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In 1906, Wyeth married Carolyn Brenneman
Bockius of Wilmington.
The couple lived for a short time in the city,
but moved in 1908 to Chadds Ford,
Pennsylvania, 10 miles north of Wilmington
along the Brandywine Creek.
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Chadds Ford had been the site of Pyle's
summer school, and the rolling hills and
sycamore trees of the Brandywine Valley
had already exerted a profound influence on
Wyeth, subduing his enthusiasm for the
rough and tumble west.
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In 1911, the Wyeths purchased 18 acres of
property in Chadds Ford, not far from a
Revolutionary War battlefield.
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The proximity appealed to the artist's abiding
love of history.
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Immediately the Wyeths set about to build a
house and studio.
They would raise five talented children on this
property.
The valley landscape would become almost
sacred to the displaced New England
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N.C. Wyeth created a stimulating household for his talented children
Andrew Wyeth, Henriette Wyeth Hurd, Carolyn Wyeth, Ann Wyeth
McCoy, and Nathaniel C. Wyeth.
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Wyeth was very sociable, and frequent visitors included F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Joseph Hergesheimer, Hugh Walpole, Lillian Gish, and John
Gilbert.
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According to Andrew, who spent the most time with his father on
account of his sickly childhood, N.C. was a strict but patient father who
did not talk down to his children.
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His hard work as an illustrator gave his family the financial freedom to
follow their own artistic and scientific pursuits. Andrew went on to
become one of the foremost American artists of the second half of the
20th century, and both Henriette and Carolyn became artists also;
Ann became an artist and composer. Nathaniel became an engineer
for DuPont and worked on the team that invented the plastic soda
bottle. Henriette and Ann married two of N.C.'s protégés, Peter Hurd
and John W. McCoy.
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N.C. Wyeth is the grandfather of artist Jamie Wyeth and musician
Howard Wyeth.
N.C. Wyeth The Studio
Chadds Ford Landscape-July 1909
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By now, he had left Pyle, and commissions
were coming in quickly.
His hope had been that he would make
enough money with his illustrations to be able
to afford the luxury of painting what he
wanted; but as his family and income grew,
he found it difficult to break from illustration.
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In 1911, the publishing house of Charles
Scribner's Sons engaged Wyeth to illustrate
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure
Island, his first commission in Scribner's
popular series of classic stories.
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The 17 paintings that make up the set are
masterpieces of American illustration.
One More Step, Mr. Hands by N.C. Wyeth, 1911, for Treasure Island
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Their size and scale, unusual in illustrations
of the period, give the paintings a heroic
quality that is apparent even in the greatly
reduced reproductions.
Within the set of illustrations, Wyeth brilliantly
mixed subject matter.
Action and character study are united in each
painting to further the narrative beyond the
text.
Treasure Island -The Hostage
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In every canvas, Wyeth's superb sense of
color and his ability to mix painterly
passages with authentic detail prove him a
master of the art.
Complex compositions and his skillful use
of intense light contrasted with deep
shadow contribute to a palpable dramatic
tension inherent in the paintings and not
dependent on the text.
These pictures made the Wyeth-illustrated
edition of Treasure Island a favorite of
generations of readers.
 The
success of Treasure
Island insured Wyeth a long
career with Scribner's,
illustrating in succeeding years
many classic stories.
Wyeth’s most famous titles
 Kidnapped (1913),
 The Black Arrow (1916),
 The Boy's King Arthur (1917),
 The Mysterious Island (1918),
 The Last of the Mohicans (1919),
 The Deerslayer (1925),
 The Yearling (1939).
Robin Hood
He also created illustrations for other
publishers, for books
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Robin Hood (Philadelphia: David McKay,
1917);
Robinson Crusoe (New York: Cosmopolitan,
1920);
Rip Van Winkle (Philadelphia: David McKay,
1921);
Men of Concord (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin,
1936);
Trending Into Maine (Boston: Little, Brown,
1938).
During the Golden Age of Illustration
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During his lifetime, Wyeth created over 3,000
paintings and illustrated 112 books
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25 of them for Scribner's, which is the work
for which he is best-known.
Another source creates him with nearly
4,000 works over a period from 1903 to 1945.
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N. C. Weyth
The Last of the Mohicans
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An American adventure tale by James
Fenimore Cooper, became an instant bestseller when it was published in 1826.
Its popularity continued, and by 1919, when
N. C. Wyeth illustrated a new, deluxe
edition of the book, Cooper’s story had
become a fixture in American boyhood.
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It has since fallen out of fashion, but its
importance to American literature is
firmly established:
the protagonist, Natty Bumppo (called
Hawkeye), a white scout raised by
American Indians, is the first of many
enterprising pioneer heroes to
overcome the perils of the frontier.
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And even though The Last of the
Mohicans had been illustrated
before, Wyeth’s pictures did
much to create an enduring
image of the American Indian as
a “noble savage.”
George Catlin: Boy Chief, Ojibbeway
Seminole Chief Osceola
Cover Illustration
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Wyeth’s teacher Howard Pyle had taught him
to work only from experience.
To prepare for The Last of the Mohicans,
Wyeth made two trips to the Lake George
region of New York, where the novel is set.
New York State
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Lake George, NY
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Lake George, New York
Lake George, NY
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tramped through the woods
and cooked over an open fire
to gain an understanding of the
wilderness and to allow the
features of the landscape to
impress themselves on his
mind.
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by the crystal-clear
summer atmosphere of the
Adirondacks, Wyeth bathed his
pictures in sky-blue tones that
lend an air of tranquility to a
violent and tragic story.
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It was not possible for Wyeth to make the
same careful study of the American Indians
who figured in the novel.
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Cooper himself had confessed that when he
wrote The Last of the Mohicans, he had
never spent time among American Indians,
and that most of what he knew of their lives
and customs had been gleaned from books
or from stories passed down from his father.
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The novel takes place in 1757,
during the French and Indian War,(
or the 7 years War) when the
British and French fought over
land that had long been home to
Eastern Woodlands tribes.
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Wyeth was yet another generation
removed from those historical events;
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like most Americans of his time, he
possessed only the vaguest
understanding of the original American
peoples.
Describing the clothing
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He wears a rough cloth or animal skin skirt
Leather strap across his chest
A thin belt holding his knife and tomahawk
An arm band
A feather in his hair
Body paint
How does his clothing tell who he is?
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In the early 1900’s, this was how most
Americans thought American Indians might
have dressed.
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The weapons suggest that he is a warrior
without a gun.
How does Wyeth emphasize the form
of this warrior?
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Wyeth makes him large
Dark against a light background
Outlines him in black
Surrounds him with a cloud that echoes his
shape.
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rooted in history,
The Last of the Mohicans was
Cooper’s invention.
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criticism that the characters
were unrealistic, Cooper replied
that the novel was intended
only to evoke the past.
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The illustrator took the artist’s poetic license
one step further.
This image, which appears on the cover of
the book, was apparently inspired by
Cooper’s character Uncas, Hawkeye’s faithful
friend and one of the last Mohicans:
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“At a little distance in advance
stood Uncas, his whole person
thrown powerfully into view. The
travelers anxiously regarded the
upright, flexible figure of the young
Mohican, graceful and
unrestrained in the attitudes and
movements of nature.”
Cooper stresses the American
Indian’s identification with the
natural world
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in harmony with the landscape,
framed by a formation of clouds.
 He retains other elements of
Cooper’s description as well,
notably the account of Uncas’s
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dark, glancing, fearful eye, alike
terrible and calm; the bold outline
of his high haughty features, pure
in their native red…the dignified
elevation of his receding forehead,
together with all the finest
proportions of a noble head, bared
to the generous scalping tuft.
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To capture the commanding
presence of the character, Wyeth
adopted a low viewpoint, so that
the powerful body of Uncas
appears larger than life as he
advances right to the edge of the
canvas, the unspoiled American
landscape spread out below and
behind him.
What does Wyeth suggest about the health and
character of this American Indian?
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Wyeth shows him to be strong, healthy,
muscular, and standing straight.
The intense stare of his eyes, his downturned
mouth, and the set of his shoulders suggest
that he is determined alert, serious, and
ready to act.
Look at the cloud surrounding the
character…
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The cloud gives him a special
character.
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It acts as his nimbus or aura.
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other respects, Wyeth
alters Cooper’s portrayal of
Uncas.
Differences
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The Uncas whom Wyeth pictures is barechested, covered in war paint, and crowned
with a feather.
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Cooper points out in the novel that Uncas’s
“person was more than usually screened by a
green and fringed hunting shirt, like that of
the white man.”
Differences
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Even though the plot of The Last of the Mohicans
depends upon the American Indians
carrying muskets alongside European soldiers,
Wyeth portrays Uncas with a dagger, a tomahawk,
and a bow and arrow—weapons of pre-colonial
warfare and the customary attributes of an Indian
brave.
Differences
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While Cooper suggests the complexity of the
character,
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Wyeth generalizes and romanticizes the
Indian hero’s appearance.
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this way, Wyeth conforms
to his era’s understanding of
American Indians, which was
tightly bound to the ideal of
an untamed wilderness.
Despite his fame as an illustrator,
Wyeth yearned to be known as a
painter.
 The distinction between painting
and illustration was an important
one, with illustration carrying a
pejorative connotation that Wyeth
felt keenly all his life.
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Even though the commissioned work earned
him income to support his family, he tried to
escape the confines of textual limitations with
personal paintings that included landscapes,
still lifes, and portraits.
N.C. Wyeth, Still Life with Onions
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By 1914, Wyeth loathed the commercialism upon
which he became dependent, and for the rest of his
life, he battled internally over his capitulation,
accusing himself of having “*&@#$ myself with the
accursed success in skin-deep pictures and
illustrations.”
He complained of money men "who want to buy me
piecemeal" and that "an illustration must be made
practical, not only in its dramatic statement, but it
must be a thing that will adapt itself to the engravers'
and printers' limitations.
This fact alone kills that underlying inspiration to
create thought.
Instead of expressing that inner feeling, you express
the outward thought… or imitation of that feeling."
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Wyeth's works also contains religious
paintings. In 1923 he was commissioned by
the Unitarian Layman's League to do a series
of paintings titled "The Parables of Jesus.“
His most magnificent religious work is
considered his triptych (consisting of three
hinged panels) painted for the Chapel of the
Holy Spirit at the National Cathedral in
Washington, D.C.
Jesus, surrounded by a host of heavenly
angels, seems to be welcoming his believers:
"Come Unto Me, All Ye that Labor and Are
Heavy Laden, and I Will Give You Rest."
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Wyeth also did posters, calendars,
and advertisements for clients
such as Lucky Strike, Cream of
Wheat, and Coca-Cola,
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He did paintings of Beethoven,
Wagner, and Liszt for Steinway &
Sons.
N.C. Wyeth, American Red Cross Poster
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He painted murals of historical and allegorical
subjects for the Federal Reserve Bank of
Boston, the Westtown School, the First
National Bank of Boston, the Hotel
Roosevelt, the Franklin Savings Bank, the
National Geographic Society, and other
public and private buildings.
During both World Wars, he contributed
patriotic images to government and private
agencies.
N.C. Wyeth at work on mural
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One of largest single murals in the United
States, painted in 1932, is Apotheosis of the
Family, which contains likenesses of Wyeth's
own family members.
It is 19 feet high by 60 feet long and mounted
in five sections. It spans the entire south wall
of the Wilmington Savings Fund Society
Building in Wilmington, Delaware.
Apotheosis of the Family
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Wyeth worked rapidly and experimented
constantly, often working on a larger
scale than necessary, befitting his
energetic and grand vision, which often
harked back to his ancestral past.
He could conceive, sketch out, and
paint a large painting in as little as three
hours.
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By the 1930s, he restored an old captain’s
house in Port Clyde, Maine, named "Eight
Bells" after a Winslow Homer painting, and
took his family there for summers, where he
painted primarily seascapes.
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Museums started to purchase his paintings,
and by 1941, he was elected to the National
Academy and exhibited on a regular basis.
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In 1945, N.C. Wyeth and his grandson
(Nathaniel C. Wyeth's son) died in an
accident at a railway crossing near his
Chadds Ford home.
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At the time of his death, Wyeth was working
on an ambitious series of murals for the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
depicting the Pilgrims at Plymouth, a series
completed by Andrew Wyeth and John
McCoy.
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His non-illustrative portrait and
landscape paintings changed
dramatically in style throughout his life
as he experimented first with
impressionism in the 1910s.
By the 1930s veering to the realistic
American regionalism of Thomas Hart
Benton and Grant Wood, painting with
thin oils and occasionally, egg tempera.
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From lyrical landscapes in an
Impressionist style to powerful portraits
of fishermen that recall the work of the
American Regionalist artists, Wyeth
experimented throughout his career with
a wide variety of subjects and styles.
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However, he never did attain the
personal satisfaction or public
recognition that he sought.
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In a 2002 episode of the TV show Antiques
Roadshow, a Wyeth painting in excellent
condition, believed to be titled When He
Comes He Shall Rule the World, was
appraised to be worth as much as $250,000.
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The painting was done to illustrate a story in
Harper's Monthly magazine called The Lost
Boy, by Henry van Dyke.
Ladies' Home Journal, "The Son Of Man" (1927)
Scribner's, "The Sheriff" (1912)
(1914)
McCall's, "The Midnight Revel" (1924)
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Ladies' Home Journal, cover (1924)
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Scribner's, "Lascar" (1907)
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Ladies' Home Journal, "The Legend Of Kogal And Azin" (1927)
Collier's, "Balloon Attack" (1919)
Printer's Ink Monthly (1934)
Coca-Cola, "Through All The Years From 1886" (1938)
Coca-Cola, "Get The Feel Of Wholesome Refershment" (1936)
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Coca-Cola, "It's The Refreshing Thing To Do" (1937)
Scribner's, "Football" (1910)
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Aunt Jemima (1920)
Scribner's, "Aide De Camp" (1907)
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Scribner's, "The Stable At The Inn" (1912)
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New Story Magazine (1914)
Scribner's, "The Moose Hunter, The Midnight Call" (1912)
Scribner's, "The Balloon Corps" (1908)
Paul Jones Whiskies (1935)
Paul Jones Whiskies (1935)
The Red Cross Magazine (1919)
I shall never forget the sight. It was like a great green sea., 1918,
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Scottish Chiefs
Woman's Day, "The Yearling" (1947)
Guide and Hunter, 1925
John Paul Jones
John Alden and Pricillia
Treasure Island