"Portrate from Life of Gen. Woshington [sic]."": "Maid [sic] in Vally [sic] Forg [sic] on Chrtmass [sic] 1777."

A JUVENILE ANDREW WYETH WATERCOLOR "PORTRATE [sic] FROM LIFE" OF GEORGE WASHINGTON PRESENTED TO HIS GRANDFATHER

WYETH, Andrew (1917-2009). American artist. Watercolor portrait on brownish paper of George Washington, 9 1/2 x 10 1/2", inside frame. Frontal head-and torso watercolor of a bewigged Washington inside wide ornamental wreath with red bow at the top; inscribed to his grandfather from "Andy" N.p., n.d. [Chadds Ford, Pa.: ca. 1925?].

A safe guess is that this was painted when Wyeth's age was still in single digits, ca. 1925? Apparently George Washington was not far from Wyeth's mind growing up in the Brandywine Valley, close to where Washington's Continental Army fell to General Howe's British forces on September 11, 1777. His 1930 large oil painting, entitled, In a Dream I Meet George Washington, was purchased by the Brandywine River Museum in 1991, and in 1954 he painted Washington and Lafayette. Washington was also a subject for his father N. C. Wyeth. This juvenile watercolor is one of the earliest examples of Wyeth's art, almost certainly the earliest in private hands. It has been owned by the Mott family since 1968. No Wyeth watercolors painted before 1930 appear in the auction records. Washington is dressed in a blue coat, light blue shirt with neck wear, and hat, below which is a three-line manuscript legend inside blue frame printed in red pencil: "Portrate from Life of Gen. Woshington [sic]--Maid [sic] in Vally [sic] Forg [sic] on Christmass [sic] 1777." A present from Andy Wyeth to his grandfather, inscribed in pencil in lower right corner: "To Aunt Pa-Andy." As a child, "Aunt Pa" was the term of endearment Andy used for his grandfather, Andrew Newell Wyeth II (1853-July 29, 1929), of Needham, Massachusetts, father of the artist and illustrator, N. C. Wyeth. Mildly stained at the top, and three old repaired tears, with no loss.. PROVENANCE: 23 March 1968 ALS from the seller to the purchaser, Howard S. Mott, writing that the watercolor "was found in the attic of the Wyeth House in Needham-N. C. Wyeth's parents house..." PLUS: Two short 1975 notes from Mrs. Andrew "Betsy" Wyeth, to Howard Mott identifying "Aunt Pa."