This illustrated exhibition catalogue was developed by the Concord Museum in association with the landmark project, N. C. Wyeth s Men of Concord, which consists of a special exhibition and public programs. The exhibition will be presented in the Museum s Wallace Kane Gallery from April 15, 2016 through September 18, 2016. N. C. Wyeth s Men of Concord will bring together for the first time in nearly eighty years the twelve original panels N. C. Wyeth painted for the book, Men of Concord and Some Others, as Portrayed in the Journal of Henry David Thoreau (Houghton Mifflin, 1936). Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945) is one of America s foremost painters and illustrators. He enjoyed a long and celebrated career creating illustrations for magazines and books, most famously Scribner s Illustrated Classics series, as well as murals and other works painted on commission or independently as an outlet for his own artistic inclinations. While Wyeth s success as an illustrator is widely known and well-documented, few people are aware of the artist s longstanding appreciation and admiration of Henry David Thoreau. This fascination ultimately resulted in Men of Concord, published selections from Thoreau s Journal for which Wyeth painted the twelve oil panels as illustrations. Although it is hard to imagine given his widespread popularity today, Thoreau s reputation in the early twentieth century was largely that of an amateur naturalist. Seeking to enhance Thoreau s status as a great American philosopher, Wyeth viewed a commission to illustrate Thoreau s writings as an opportunity to both fulfill his own deeply felt personal and creative aspirations as well as to elevate Thoreau in the estimation of the wider public. N. C. Wyeth first put forth the idea of illustrating Thoreau s writings to the Boston publishing giant Houghton Mifflin in 1918. The final product was not published until 1936. In his Journal, Thoreau often commented on the people he encountered on his daily journeys. Men of Concord is a selection of these intimate portraits. In addition to N. C. Wyeth s twelve color illustrations, pen and ink sketches by Wyeth s son Andrew are found throughout the book. Men of Concord was a commercial and critical success as well as a personal and artistic triumph for N. C. Wyeth. By imbuing the paintings with the emotions Thoreau had stimulated in him, Wyeth sought to show Thoreau s humanity a side of the writer Wyeth felt was underrepresented in much contemporary writing about Thoreau. As Allen wrote in the book's preface, The reader will feel that through these pictures he himself has come almost into personal contact with Thoreau and with the men of Concord. The catalogue contains three essays: Consulting Curator Christine Podmaniczky, Curator of N. C. Wyeth Collections at the Brandywine River Museum of Art and author of the catalogue raisonné on the artist, on N. C. Wyeth, Henry Thoreau, and the Importance of Place; Leslie Perrin Wilson, Curator of Special Collections at the Concord Free Public Library and organizer of its concurrent exhibition, From Thoreau s Seasons to Men of Concord : N. C. Wyeth Inspired, on Evolution of Men of Concord; and David F. Wood, Curator of the Concord Museum and author of the catalogue, An Observant Eye: The Thoreau Collection at the Concord Museum, on Getting a Living. The exhibition and catalogue are part of the lead-up to the worldwide celebration of the bicentennial of Henry David Thoreau's birth in 2017.

N. C. Wyeth's Men of Concord

Concord Museum

Arts & Photography

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Concord Museum. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Concord Museum

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Concord Museum. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

N. C. Wyeth's Men of Concord