N. C. Wyeth

Granville M. Read, Wilmington, Delaware (acquired as a gift from the artist)
By descent in the family to the present owner

John Fox, Jr., The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, New York, 1931, illustrated in color opposite p. 22
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen Jr., N.C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals, New York, 1972, p. 205
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N.C. Wyeth: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, vol. 2, London, 2008, no. I 1152 (1250), p. 531, illustrated in color p. 530

Very good condition, unlined; under UV: a few dots of retouch in upper right corner and lower center.
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In 1931, N.C. Wyeth illustrated John Fox, Jr.'s best selling novel The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, which chronicles the adventures of a Kentucky orphan during the years of the American Civil War. Young Chad, the novel's hero, has recently lost his parents and in order to avoid his fate as an indentured servant, he has run away with his dog Jack.

"Stick to him, Little Un", Shouted Tom depicts Chad as he comes upon a group of boys fro,m two neighboring families, the Turners and the Dillons. Chad quickly gets into a argument with Tad Dillon and as the fight turns violent, the Turners support Chad who, although small, appears to be winning: "'Stick it to him, little un,' shouted Tom [Turner], and his brothers, stoical Dolph and Rube, danced about madly. Even with underholds, Chad, being much the shorter of the two, had no advantage that he did not need, and, with a sharp thud, the two fierce little bodies struck the road side by side, spurting up a cloud of dust" (John Fox, The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, 1903, chapter 2).  Chad emerges victorious and the Turners invite him to their family farm in celebration.

Wyeth studied at Howard Pyle's eponymous art school in Wilmington, Delaware, where Pyle encouraged his students to imagine all aspects of the plots they depicted. As a result, Wyeth often read a story three times before beginning his illustrations. By the time Wyeth started on The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come he was in high demand as an illustrator, and the art editor for the Charles Scribner and Sons publishing house, Joseph H. Chapin, gave Wyeth free reign to illustrate the scenes he felt best heightened the story. His pictures often depict an event in the moment before it is resolved, as in "Stick to him, Little Un", Shouted Tom,creating tension for the reader without revealing the outcome.  In a 1912 New York Times article, Wyeth noted: "The ability to select subject matter is an art in itself, and calls to action similar dramatic instincts required in the staging of a play. The illustrator first feels the power of the story in all its rhythm and swing, at the same time senses just at the right moment to step in with his elaboration, just as the play producer endeavors to intensify and enhance the drama with his ingenious stage properties and effects" (N.C. Wyeth, "On Illustrations", October 13, 1912).