During much of the 19th century, when landscape painting was a dominant form of visual expression, many artists ventured to the Brandywine Valley. By 1819, Bass Otis had published the nation's first lithograph--a Chester County scene entitled House and Trees at Waterside--now in the Brandywine River Museum's collection. Within decades, well-known members of the Hudson River School, including Thomas Doughty, Edward Moran and Jasper Cropsey, had documented the distinctive beauty of the region
Still life painting also has strong roots in the Brandywine region, particularly trompe l'oeil or "fool the eye" painting that was popular in the late 19th century. The museum's collection includes examples by such painters as William Michael Harnett, the acknowledged leader in this type of painting, John F. Peto, George Cope, John Haberle and Alexander Pope. Many of these works were created for gentleman's clubs, pubs and other "masculine" interiors, hence the decidedly male subject matter: often hunting and fishing equipment, dead game, mugs and pipes. The museum's
A major portion of the region's heritage is American illustration. The first illustrator of note was the famous F.O.C. Darley, who left New York in 1859 to settle just north of Wilmington, Delaware. A few decades later, Howard Pyle, who is often called "the Father of American Illustration," also began to work in the Brandywine Valley. Pyle established an extraordinarily influential art school in Wilmington and Chadds Ford, where he trained dozens of artists, including major illustrators such as N.C. Wyeth, Harvey Dunn, Jessie Willcox Smith and Frank Schoonover. Pyle and many of his students are represented in the Brandywine River Museum. American illustration is a major component of the museum's collection. Among the hundreds of illustrators represented are early 20th- century giants such as Edwin Austin Abbey, Winslow Homer, Howard Chandler Christy, Charles Dana Gibson, Rose O'Neill, Maxfield Parrish and Rockwell Kent; late 20th-century cartoonists, such as Al Hirschfeld, Charles Addams, Edward Gorey and Charles
Schulz; and other illustrators such as Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Charles Santore and Nancy Eckholm Burkert. These are only some of the diverse talents revealed in an illustration collection that also includes Reginald Marsh, George Bellows and Frederic Remington.
N.C. Wyeth was profoundly affected by the Brandywine Valley when he arrived here to study with Howard Pyle in 1902. He married, settled in Chadds Ford, raised a family, and within a decade established himself among America's foremost illustrators with work featured in magazines and newspapers and in numerous very popular books. Several of his best-known illustrations, including ten works from Treasure Island along with works from Kidnapped, The Black Arrow, The Boy's King Arthur, The Last of the Mohicans and other Scribners' classics, are frequently on view at the museum. Wyeth is also represented here by fine still life and landscape paintings and portraits. N.C. Wyeth's five children inherited much talent. Daughters Henriette Wyeth Hurd and Carolyn Wyeth gained recognition as painters and are well represented in the museum's
The third generation of the Wyeth family includes Andrew Wyeth's younger son, painter James Wyeth. By his early 20s, James Wyeth had earned national attention with a posthumous
Return to top of page. Selections from the museum's permanent collection are always exhibited. For information on works currently on view call (610) 388-2700. For more information send email to: inquiries@brandywine.org Website hosted by A-nett.com and maintained by Unica Multimedia. |
