A 32-by-40-inch oil painting of the Charles River, created by Needham-born artist N.C. Wyeth circa 1922, is coming home to the town where it was painted.

Amy and John Wyeth, great-niece and great-nephew of the famed illustrator, donated "The Charles River in the Fall" to the Needham Free Public Library. The Library Foundation of Needham separately purchased 13 drawings and one watercolor by Wyeth, all created before he turned 21. Together, the 15 works will roughly double the library's existing collection of about 18 Wyeth pieces.

The painting hung above the fireplace at the Wyeth family home at 165 South St. for years. Inscribed on the back is a note to "Babe," N.C. Wyeth's nickname for his youngest brother Stimson, Amy and John's grandfather. The work had been on loan to the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, for roughly 20 years but was rarely displayed.

"It just really hasn't been seen in many years. I want to be able to visit it, and I want people from Needham to be able to see it," John Wyeth told Needham Local. "It's a beautiful painting."

The painting now sits in a temperature-controlled room behind locked doors off the library's archives, awaiting its public debut in Needham. Library Director Rob MacLean called it a "companion piece" to "Charles River Scene, Winter," a 1912 Wyeth painting already on display in the library's Wyeth Room, donated decades ago by N.C. Wyeth's wife Carolyn.

The drawings include an early self-portrait, images of children sledding, and sketches of horses. Amy Wyeth said the collection was discovered in a closet after her parents passed away. She believes the works had been sitting there since 1930. They are currently at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover for treatment, since many are unframed and fragile. MacLean said the library plans to digitize them so residents can view the works even when they are not on public display.

The Wyeth family's ties to the library run generations deep. Amy and John's father, John Stimson Wyeth, worked as a librarian there. Their mother, Betty Gardner Wyeth, served as board member and treasurer of the Friends of the Needham Public Library. John Jr. worked as a library page in his youth.

Library Foundation President Kathy D'Addesio called the purchase "a once-in-a-lifetime acquisition." The Trustees of the Needham Free Public Library issued a proclamation stating the gift "honors Needham's place in the history of American art."

All 15 works will be unveiled at the library's Wyeth Room on Saturday, November 21.