Depicting tattered cornstalks in a harvested field, November First captures the cold damp of late autumn, portraying the inevitable cycles of decay and renewal. Wyeth steadfastly maintained his dedication to painting the people and places that were familiar to him in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and Cushing, Maine. The cornfield shown in this watercolor was located near his studio in Chadds Ford, behind the house of Dr. Margaret Handy, the pediatrician who cared for Wyeth’s two children.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009