N.C. Wyeth and the TREASURE ISLAND illustrations

     Currently on exhibit at the Brandywine River Museum  in Chadds Ford, PA are 16 of the original paintings of pirates, swashbucklers and high sea adventurers that N.C. Wyeth painted for Robert Louis Stevenson's book TREASURE ISLAND.  This is the first time in 100 years that all the painting have been assembled together.  Unfortunately one of the illustrations was lost in a fire in 1952.  The paintings come from the 1911 edition of TREASURE ISLAND, and established Wyeth as one of the most important illustrators of the day. Charles Schribner's Sons, publisher of the book, paid Wyeth $2,500 for the illustrations and he used the proceeds to buy 18 acres along the Brandywine River. Wyeth's house where he raised his family of extraordinary artistic children and where he built his studio and made quite a comfortable living as an illustrator still stand in Chadd's Ford. The house and studio are now open for tours. I have had the good fortune of being able to visit Chadd's Ford and the Brandywine River Museum.  This area is full of people and places that N.C. Wyeth's son Andrew has made noteworthy through his paintings over the years, but more of that in another blog.




N.C. Wyeth in his studio ca. 1903-04

     Most of the TREASURE ISLAND illustrations are owned by the Brandywine River Museum and the Wyeth family. These illustrations by Wyeth have been influential in movie and stage settings for any TREASURE ISLAND production since these images first appeared in the 1911 edition., becoming the definitive version of what a swashbuckling pirate should look and act like. From correspondence we know that these 3' x 4' works were done in about 3 1/2 months, an incredible pace and quite a bit larger than most illustrations were typically done. The paintings were reproduced down to about 6 or 7 inches tall for the book. The book was already a success, published first in the late 1800's, but the past illustrations had been line drawings for the most part.   These highly detailed, vividly descriptive paintings full of color, breathed new life into the already loved book, making Long John Silver and Billy Bones actually jump off the page. Wyeth used familiar places, neighbors and acquaintances for his models and inspiration.  He chose passages from the book that he thought would easily translate visually.

Jim, Long John Silver and his Parrot

A view of Wyeth's studio located behind his home in Chadd's Ford. The studio is as he left it, with an unfinished commissioned painting still on the easel. Wyeth was suddenly killed in a car and train collision a few miles from where he lived. The staircase has wheels so that it could easily be moved around in order to reach the large scale paintings that Wyeth most often did.  Notice the large almost floor to ceiling windows to the left that provided an abundance of natural light for him to work in.

     A 1916 silent movie of "Treasure Island" modeled its costumes and character types after Wyeth's work, and actor Lionel Barrymore said in a newspaper interview that his portrayal of Billy Bones was inspired by Wyeth's archetype. Disney animators interpreted Wyeth's style for the 1950s "Treasure Island" as well as the futuristic "Treasure Planet" from 2002.

     "No director had a finer production illustrator than N.C. Wyeth," director Fraser Heston says in a letter included in the exhibit. The son of Charlton Heston, he based his "Treasure Island" storyboards on Wyeth's work for a 1989 movie starring his father as peg-legged pirate Long John Silver.

Billy Bones  - From this illustration, one can easily recognize how our image of what a pirate is supposed to look like comes from Wyeth's creation.