BOSTON — On Sunday, November 11, Grogan and Company combined four Wyeth artworks, consigned by a grandchild of N.C. Wyeth, with a treasure trove of unpublished love letters written by Andrew Wyeth that will require published biographies to be rewritten.
The artworks included one by N.C. Wyeth, two by Andrew Wyeth and one by Henriette Wyeth.
The group of more than 40 love letters, sold in 27 lots and purchased by one buyer, reveal his love, perhaps his first love, for a woman he dated prior to his marriage to Betsy Wyeth. The letters, in addition to reflecting his love for the woman, Alice Moore, also discuss his early painting, his success with his early shows and his social life during that period of his life. Several of the letters include drawings that have never been published. Moore had kept the letters in a box under her bed.
Together, the four paintings and the letters sold for $154,269.
The sale also included two large posters by Toulouse-Lautrec, a bronze by Max Beckmann, a large group of works by Lyonel Feininger, fine jewelry, a large lithograph by George Catlin, works by Frank Weston Benson, collotypes by Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita and much more.
A full report will follow.