Wyeth’s self-portrait. Very much in the style that Jeffrey Jones would adopt in the 1970s.

Newell Convers Wyeth was born on this date in 1882. It is a date that should be famous and perhaps rates its own holiday, for N.C. Wyeth is quite probably the greatest and most influential American artist that ever lived.

N.C. Wyeth grew up in Massachusetts, the scion of a family that had been in New England since the days of the Plimoth Plantation. Like Robert E. Howard, he loved history and he loved the outdoors. Also like REH, he was blessed with a doting mother and a practical-minded father. At his father's urging, N.C. attended the Mechanic Arts High School in Boston in 1899, but he soon transferred to Massachusetts Normal Art School, where his instructor encouraged him to pursue illustration as a career.

For a young man bursting with artistic talent, there was only one logical destination: the Howard Pyle School of Art. Not quite twenty years of age, Wyeth put himself under the tutelage of the mighty Howard Pyle, the man now known as "The Father of American Illustration". Pyle rocked Newell's young world. As N.C. put it within days after his arrival:

"The composition lecture...opened my eyes more than any talk I ever heard."

Within five months, while still a student, Wyeth would sell a cover painting to The Saturday Evening Post at the ripe old age of twenty. The Post was one of the best-selling magazines in the US, with a circulation in the hundreds of thousands. Wyeth would soon make sales to various other top-selling magazines. The American West was just entering its dominant period as a subject for fiction and art. N.C. was fascinated by it on a personal level and made several trips out West between 1904 and 1906 in order to get an authentic feel for his illustrations.

While Wyeth's paintings of the West were masterful--and are still prized by connoisseurs of the genre--his biggest break was yet to come. In 1911, the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons contracted N.C. to illustrate their new edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. This was Wyeth's Conan the Adventurer. His illustrations, painted at a scale rarely seen in that period, were packed with power and characterization which intensified when reproduced at a smaller scale. It was an instance where the art truly expanded upon and enriched the prose, creating a synergistic classic.

N.C. would go on to do many more illustrated books for Scribner's, as well as other publishers: The Black Arrow (1916), The Boy's King Arthur (1917), The Mysterious Island (1918), The Last of the Mohicans (1919), Robinson Crusoe (1920) and numerous others. Each and every one of them was another artistic triumph and was greeted with critical applause as well as popular acclaim. N.C. Wyeth had arrived.

Just one of Wyeth’s classic illos for Treasure Island. — Just *one* of Wyeth’s classic illos for *Treasure Island*.

Of course, a reader of the DMR Blog might ask at this point, "Why should I give a damn about this old guy?" For the very simple reason that his art still kicks ass, for one thing. Also, it’s very likely that one or more of the artists that you love really, really loved or loves the art of N.C. Wyeth. Hal Foster, an artistic titan in his own right, grew up loving NCW's art. Roy G. Krenkel was a Wyeth fan. He turned Frank Frazetta on to N.C.'s work--Wyeth being dead and "out of fashion" in the early 1960s. One can see Frazetta's art becoming more Wyethesque from about 1966-on. In fact, my favorite period of Frank's art--1970 to 1980 or so--is inarguably his most Wyethesque. Jeffrey Jones' earliest painted work owes a debt to Wyeth and that influence continued right up until Jones' death. Bernie Wrightson was also an admirer of NCW, as was Alfredo Alcala.

Two fantasy artists who got their breaks in the '70s were big fans of NCW. Don Maitz, while also a fan of N.C.'s contemporary, Maxfield Parrish, is an avowed admirer of Wyeth. Tom Barber, Zebra Books' main artist--along with Jones--for their fantasy line in the '70s, counts Wyeth as one of his main influences. I'm on record as guessing that influence long before Tom told Brian Murphy about it. It wouldn't surprise me if Ken Kelly is a Wyeth fan as well, though I've found no confirmation of that.

Wyeth's obvious influence upon fantasy art in the '80s and '90s waned somewhat, thanks to the Great Divide which I've mentioned elsewhere. Art directors at the big publishing houses wanted "photo-realistic" art and Wyeth's style was not that. However, over at TSR, all things "pulp" and old-school still had a home. Larry Elmore, Todd Lockwood and Brom were and are admirers of Wyeth. Gaming fans reaped the artistic benefits thereof. Meanwhile, Mike Mignola was making his mark at Marvel, DC and Dark Horse, What's his opinion of NCW?

"Wyeth's work is extraordinary."

Once we get to the 2000s, the stars begin to align again. Marcelo Anciano started putting together his Robert E. Howard illustrated editions for Wandering Star. Wouldn't ya know it? All of the artists he chose were Wyeth fans. Here's what Mark Schultz had to say about the inspirations behind his illustrations for The Coming of Conan of Cimmeria:

"I can point to the 'usual suspects' as huge influences… N.C. Wyeth's Scribner's classics, of course."

Greg Manchess has stated that Wyeth "profoundly influenced" his work. The two Gianni brothers--Tom (RIP) and Gary--were/are both fans of the Notorious NCW. Justin Sweet is a fan of Wyeth and the Brandywine School in general. It wouldn't surprise me, at all, if the Keegans and Greg Staples were also admirers of Wyeth.

I hope it's obvious by now that N.C. Wyeth is the gift that keeps on giving.

Let's get back to that statement I made at the top of this post, that Wyeth is "the greatest and most influential American artist that ever lived". Let me state for the record, once again, that Frank Frazetta is my favorite artist of all time. Has been since I was twelve and always will be. That said, I do not consider him the greatest American artist. My opinion has nothing to do with Frank's father, Alfonso, being an immigrant. It has everything to do with the length and breadth and subjects of N.C.'s work.

N.C. Wyeth created paintings that spanned the First Thanksgiving to World War II. Some of his paintings, like "Hiawatha Fishing" illustrated subjects that predate the first European settlements in North America. Wyeth painted American pioneers, working folk and cowboys; Americans from every walk of life and across a span of more than three centuries. Frank Frazetta never did that. Even Wyeth's mentor, Howard Pyle, never did that, not to the same extent. Wyeth gave the American people--with all of his covers, illustrations and murals--a visual vocabulary as a people. Frazetta, despite his amazing, blazing talent, never did that. I recall Frank saying in an interview in Prevue magazine that he was thinking about doing portfolios devoted, on the one hand, to Native Americans and, on the other, to American wildlife like the bison. His thyroid condition seems to have derailed that. It is a tragedy of major proportions that Frank never followed through.

Frank never did so, but Wyeth, over the course of more than two thousand works of art, did do so. That, plus his gigantic influence upon American artists for over a century, basically forces me to crown Wyeth the King of American Artists, despite Mr. Frazetta holding first place in my heart. I can live with that.

Feel free to check out the small sampling of Wyeth art below and then, maybe, search out more of his work on your own.

A classic plate from Doyle’s The White Company. With a little bit of color adjustment, this would almost work as a painting of Elric.

An illo from Verne’s The Mysterious Island. I’ve loved this painting since I first laid eyes on it. The bas-relief work in the background is the extra touch that puts it over the top. The novel it illustrates is just pretty good, in my opinion, but Wyeth was at the top of his game with the illos.

One of NWC’s many patriotic covers.

“The First Cargo”. The style of this painting is the obvious inspiration for the one Jeffrey Jones used foir his Tigers of the Sea cover painting..

“The Opium Den”. This really makes me wish NCW had done a few Rohmer covers…or a painting for REH’s “Skull-Face”.

Wyeth using a more experimental style in The Odyssey of Homer (1929).

“Hiawatha Fishing” from The Children's Longfellow (1908). Wyeth would paint several more iconic “Native American in a canoe” works during his career.

Pure dynamic action and drama. From The Last of the Mohicans. Two powerful men, fighting barehanded, each with just one foot on the ground, poised over certain death.

Intense illo from The Boys’ King Arthur. Launcelot and Sir Turquine have sought to slay each other for hours and and have now called a truce. In a moment, Launcelot will reveal his identity and behead Turquine.