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Brandywine River Museum Searches for
Missing N.C. Wyeth Painting
(October 2005, #044)

CHADDS FORD, PA―Curators at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, are searching for clues that might lead to the discovery of an N.C. Wyeth painting that has been missing since the late 1940s. Titled First Aid to the Hungry, the painting was commissioned by the Kellogg Company of Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1914 as an advertisement for Corn Flakes. The image of four children marching with a flag, wooden swords and boxes of Corn Flakes strapped to their backs appeared in the January 1915 issues of magazines such as American, Good Housekeeping, and Ladies' Home Journal. At the time Wyeth painted First Aid to the Hungry, World War I was underway in Europe, and both the title and the image allude to the war. The painting is done in vignette style (with no background) and is an example of Wyeth's classic blend of nostalgia and patriotism.

Documentation shows that the painting was at the Kellogg Company in 1946. However, the company no longer owns the painting, and there are no known records indicating its current location. The Brandywine River Museum hopes to locate the painting and include information about it in a catalogue of N.C. Wyeth's work which is to be published by the museum in 2007.

If anyone has information about the location of this painting, please contact Christine B. Podmaniczky, Associate Curator, N.C. Wyeth Collections, Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA, 19317 or at 610-388-2700.

Exhibiting American art in a 19th-century gristmill, the Brandywine River Museum is internationally known for its unparalleled collection of works by three generations of Wyeths and its outstanding collection of American illustration, still life and landscape painting. Outdoors, wildflower gardens surround the museum in glorious color from spring through autumn.

Located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, the Brandywine River Museum is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except Christmas Day. Admission is $8 for adults; $5 for seniors ages 65 and over, students, and children ages 6-12; free for children under six and Brandywine Conservancy members. Individual audio tours and children’s audio tours can be rented for $3. Group rates are available with advance reservations. For more information, call 610-388-2700 or visit the museum's website at www.brandywinemuseum.org.


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Brandywine River Museum, U.S. Route 1 and PA Route 100
P.O. Box 141, Chadds Ford, PA 19317