73

HENRIETTE WYETH

(American, 1907-1997)

Portrait of Charles A. Higgins, Jr.

oil on canvas
signed Henriette Wyeth lower right
22 1/4 x 20 in., frame: 24 3/4 x 22 1/2 in.

  • Notes: The sitter is 2nd Lieutenant Charles A. Higgins, Jr. (1922-1945), for whose family Henriette Wyeth painted a number of commissioned portraits.

    Charles A. Higgins, Jr. was born on July 16, 1922, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as an only child to Charles Afred Higgins and Marion Dunham Higgins (née Marion Glenn Dunham). After moving to Delaware, Charles attended The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey before attending Yale University in the fall of 1940.

    In September of 1942, Charles dropped out of Yale to volunteer for the U.S. Army Signal Corps and attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Monmouth. Upon being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1943, he was sent to France in January of 1945 to become a member of Photo Detachment No. 59, 3264th Signal Service Company.

    On March 24, 1945, Lieutenant Higgins was assigned to photograph Operation Varsity. Operation Varsity was an airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops with the goal of securing a foothold across the Rhine, at the time a formidable challenge and a symbolic stronghold for the German nation. Upon successfully dropping their plane's ‘stick' of paratroopers belonging to the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division, the Curtiss C-46 Commando in which Lieutenant Higgins was flying was struck and damaged by enemy fire. Tragically, Lieutenant Higgins lost his life at age 23 when the plane went down, crashing just beyond the drop zone.

    Lieutenant Higgins was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star medals for his actions during the war and Operation Varsity. He is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
  • Condition: Please note: All property is sold "AS IS" and any statement, whether oral or written, is given as a courtesy and shall not be deemed as a guarantee, warranty, or representation of the authenticity of authorship, physical condition, size, quality, rarity, importance, provenance, exhibitions, literature or historical relevance of the property or otherwise. The absence of a condition report does not imply the item is in perfect condition.

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November 2, 2024 11:00 AM EDT
Boston, MA, US

Grogan & Company

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