N. C. Wyeth end paper illustrations from "Robin Hood" (1917): rare, beautifully framed antique
$300.00
End Papers for Robin Hood
By Paul Creswick
Illustration by N. C. Wyeth
Philadelphia. David McKay Publisher. 1917
IMAGE INFORMATION
Image Size: H 9.25” x W 14.0”
Matted & Framed: H 16.25” x W 21.0”
Framed Price: $300.00
Whiteglove handling and shipping: $32.00
Drawing on his arsenal of artistic gifts and painting techniques allowed to NCW to produce hundreds of illustrations that were loved by the reading public. None were more brilliant than the scenes he produced for the two books he produced in 1917. The first was his fourth Scribner's Classic, The Boy's King Arthur. The second was the edition of Robin Hood he produced later in the year for David McKay.
NCW had finished creating his “purple palette” in 1913. The Black Arrow set had been his first purple illustrations. We see them again in Robin Hood. This enchanting scene, somewhere in Sherwood Forest, is a true Wyeth masterpiece. The artist uses the remnants of the instructions he received from Howard Pyle in 1902 by creating action with a slanting composition. As he did in all his works, NCW steps into this picture and takes part in the ambush. We can feel him pulling the bowstrings and squinting as he aims the deadly shafts.
By 1917, the artist had escaped entirely from the dark shadowy city style Pyle used. Instead, here is Sherwood Forest, we have brilliant light, an abundance of color, and a swath of romantic purples and plums that carry the viewer off into the world of make believe.
