The Painting of a Pennsylvania Farmer That Set N.C. Wyeth's Auction Record
3 min read · 21 Aug 2025
Portrait Of A Farmer (pennsylvania Farmer). Image courtesy of Sotheby's
Newell Convers Wyeth's, Portrait of a Farmer (Pennsylvania Farmer) (1943) sold for $5.99m at Sotheby's in New York on May 23, 2018. The tempera on renaissance panel work had been traded twice before.
Wyeth's portrait was inspired by a scene he had witnessed in Chadds Ford, the Brandywine River Valley in Pennsylvania, where the artist lived.
Soon after he completed it, he wrote to his daughter, Henriette: "My escape from apprehensive hours still remains to me through my painting. In spite of all, my present large panel of the squealing pig is vastly superior to anything to date."
The work received its debut in Pittsburgh, a highlight of the Carnegie Institute's wartime show "Painting in the United States 1943".
Best known as an illustrator, Wyeth did not paint the portrait for a commission, however, it was ultimately reproduced in advertisements for the art supplies manufacturer F. Weber Company.
"Hands Up!". Image courtesy of Christie's
The sale beat the artist’s previous auction record by $1.03m, a 20% rise. His previous record was set by "Hands Up!" (1906), which sold for $4.95m at Christie's on November 22, 2016.
A Brief History of N.C. Wyeth at Auction
Sale Date | Title | Price | Record Increase | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018-05-23 | Portrait Of A Farmer (pennsylvania Farmer) | $5.99m | 21 % | Sotheby's | New York |
2016-11-22 | "Hands Up!" | $4.95m | 148 % | Christie's | New York |
2007-07-28 | Wild Bill Hickock at cards | $2m | 11 % | Coeur d`Alene Art Auction | Reno |
2006-11-29 | Stand and deliver | $1.8m | 125 % | Sotheby's | New York |
2006-07-22 | Two boys in a punt | $800,000 | 33 % | Coeur d`Alene Art Auction | Reno |
1998-12-03 | The doryman evening | $600,000 | 82 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1998-12-01 | The Lumberboat II | $330,000 | 38 % | Phillips | New York |
1998-01-20 | "we Must Be In The Dungeons" Dick Remarked | $240,000 | 26 % | Phillips | New York |
1997-12-03 | I've sold them wheelers! The misadventures of Cassidy | $190,000 | 111 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1994-05-07 | Indian in canoe - 'The Moose Call' | $90,000 | 29 % | Illustration House | New York |
1990-05-23 | The savage gave a yell and came bounding across open ground ... | $70,000 | 17 % | Christie's | New York |
1987-12-04 | Seeking the new home | $60,000 | 114 % | Christie's | New York |
1987-04-10 | John Oxenham | $28,000 | 2 % | Freeman's | Philadelphia |
1985-02-28 | Svenson and Maiden | $27,500 | - | Butterfields | San Francisco |
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