Newell Convers Wyeth

Boulders

c. 1911-1912

One of the most successful illustrators of all time, Newell Convers Wyeth studied under Howard Pyle between 1902-1904 in Chadds Ford. Perhaps more than any other student, he took Pyle’s dictates completely to heart. He was the pre-eminent example of the results of Pyle’s teachings by following every precept, religiously. During his career, Wyeth painted nearly four-thousand illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post, and many other magazines and books. An early aficionado of Pyle’s he became his greatest advocate even settling his family in the Brandywine area and in Maine, where Wyeth’s still live today. Much of NC Wyeth’s art embraced an American Western theme. He also illustrated popular kid's books topped off with pirates, knights, and brigands in novels entitled Treasure Island and Tom Sawyer - which established visual images of the characters in young readers minds eye, for generations. Born in Needham, Massachusetts, nearby Boston in 1882, Newell Convers Wyeth showed an early passion for drawing and was encouraged by his family. From 1903, until his tragic death in a 1945 car accident at a railroad crossing, N.C. Wyeth set new standards for illustrators, in styles, in technique, and through his imagination. He had an extraordinary ability to create living characters from an author’s imaginary story. Because of his fantastical imagination, he envisaged all aspects of a story, identifying crucial elements often overlooked by the author himself. Cooper, DeFoe, Irving, Stevenson, and Verne were some of the authors whose works he illustrated.