Wheaton College Permanent Collection
Watson Fine Arts Center was designed by Howard L. Rich, Rich & Tucker Association and won the 1938 Fine Arts Center Competition. It houses Wheaton College's Permanent Collection, curated by Leah Niederstadt.
The acquisiton of Wood's print from Child's Gallery was spearheaded by Professor of Art History, Tripp Evans. In his Acquistion Proposal/Prospectus, he talks about the fine quality of this particular print in Wood's collection, the rich provenance provided by Child's Gallery - "If acquired for our permanent collection, Sultry Night would form an important anchor in a collection already known for its strengths in prints and American art. It would be a real pilgrimage piece for Wood scholars, and given its scarcity, it could also potenially become a valuable loan piece."
Child's asked $34,000 for Sultry Night, but was willing to discount that figure to $31,000 for an academic institution. This estimate was well in line with other sales of the print, and was in fact lower than an impression of Sultry Night recieved at auction two years ago. Eventually, funds were accessed through the Newell Bequest, which is a fund that gives priority to ancient or Classical works.
Evans furthers his arguement for why the print would be a valuable assest to the college by explaining that "in Sultry Night, there are links to the nudes of classical antiquity - an all-American/Midwestern re-interpretation of a Greek Apollo."
Ultimately, Wheaton purchased the print on February 26, 2013 for $31,000 from Child's Gallery. It resides here currently.
Sources:
Evans, R. Tripp. Grant Wood: a life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
Evans, R. Tripp, “Acquisition Proposal/Prospectus ‘Grant Wood, Sultry Night (1937)’”, (2013).