Bright and Fair - Eight Bells by N.C. Wyeth, 1936
Some painters dazzle with bold color choices, high contrast, or shocking imagery. Others impress with hyper-realistic attention to detail. Sometimes artists simply paint a feeling.
N.C. Wyeth’s paintings balanced story, realism, and emotion in a way that leaves viewers feeling nostalgic and inspired.
His consistent hard work as an illustrator for high-profile books and magazines provided N.C.’s family with the financial freedom to pursue interests in art and science. He drew distinct boundaries, though, between illustration and painting: practical storytelling vs. artistic expression. It seems that Mr. Wyeth’s real passion was in his paintings. They were his own.
One of N.C.’s dreams was to have a summer home on the coast of Maine, where he and his family could spend quality time together in an environment like no other. He purchased a fairly dilapidated seaside home in Port Clyde, Maine with a close friend of his. This was the same year he had done illustrations for The Last of the Mohicans and Robinson Crusoe, and he had young children at home - his son Andrew Wyeth was 3 years old then.
“How I teem to paint that wonderful water and shore next summer!” N.C. had much to be excited about during this time in his life. He and his artist friend Sidney M. Chase diligently renovated the home and several years later, N.C. purchased Sidney’s share of the property. He called the home “Eight Bells”; a reference to a beloved oil painting by Winslow Homer.
