BRANDYWINE RIVER MUSEUM CELEBRATES MAJOR GIFTS OF ILLUSTRATION
(June 2004; #018)


Beginning June 5 and continuing through September 6, the Brandywine River Museum celebrates two extraordinary donations of American illustration in a fascinating exhibition. Gifts to the Collection from Jane Collette Wilcox features works by such renowned artists as Winslow Homer, Arthur Burdett Frost, Rockwell Kent, Robert Henri, John Sloan, William Glackens, Frank Schoonover and Howard Pyle.

The Brandywine River Museum is very well known for its collection of American illustration. That collection is due in large measure to the generosity of Jane Collette Wilcox. In 1982, Mrs. Wilcox, then from California and New York, gave the museum hundreds of important illustrations by more than 100 artists. With this first gift, she immediately made the Brandywine River Museum an essential destination for scholars and others for whom the history of illustration is a dedication. In 2003, Mrs. Wilcox further enhanced the museum's collection with a second gift of 99 works by 27 artists.

"This outstanding donation constitutes a major addition to the museum's significant holdings in American illustration," said Brandywine River Museum Curator of Collections Gene Harris. "We are deeply grateful to Janet Collette Wilcox for such generous and wonderful gifts."

Mrs. Wilcox began collecting because her father was an artist and a member of the Society of Illustrators in New York. Born in New York City and raised in Pelham New York, she grew up knowing many of the most famous illustrators of the mid-20th century, including James Montgomery Flagg and Rube Goldberg. Over the years, she came to know and appreciate the Brandywine Valley through travels with her father who visited Wilmington, Delaware, on business. Mrs. Wilcox spent many years acquiring her fine and diverse collection. Many of the works are among the best-known of American illustrations and have been exhibited and reproduced throughout the country.

A large portion of the collection is important wood engravings by Winslow Homer. Forty-nine illustrations by Homer, which appeared in Harper's Weekly from 1859 through 1875, represent life in cities, on farms, at the seaside, and at the front during the Civil War. Such illustrations as The Army of the Potomac; Sharp Shooter on Picket Duty (1861) and Winter Quarters in Camp;The Inside of a Hut (1863), are especially famous images that have long represented soldiers' lives. Homer illustrated many aspects of the period, from the battlefield to Reconstruction.

The Wilcox collection is rich with paintings and drawings with a variety of subjects skillfully represented by popular artists. Arthur Burdett Frost's "Her First Marrying" for Scribner's Magazine (1915) is a gouache drawing depicting comical aspects of farm life. William Glackens, Robert Henri and John Sloan's untitled illustrations portray crowded city life. A firm, elegant drawing by Rockwell Kent depicts a striking image of a man with a smoking gun, while a beautiful work by F.R. Gruger captures the atmosphere of a dimly-lit room. Frank E. Schoonover's romantic vignette of a man and woman by a Conestoga wagon offers a birdís eye view of life in a Western town.

Visitors will also see early pen and ink drawings by F.O.C. Darley and Arthur Burdett Frost. Frost's work served as a model for the strip cartoon which first appeared in newspapers in the early 20th century. The exhibition includes works by Howard Pyle and his students, Elizabeth Shippen Green and Charlotte Harding.

Delightful and humorous drawings for children's books created by Frederick S. Church and Harrison Cady demonstrate another aspect of this diverse collection. Humor is also found in political cartoons created by Oliver Herford, Thomas Nast and Rube Goldberg. Elegant drawings of upper class society by William Thomas Smedley, Charles Dana Gibson and J.C. Leyendecker complete the exhibition.

Located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, the Brandywine River Museum is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except Christmas Day. Admission is $8 for adults; $5 for seniors ages 65 and over, students with I.D., and children ages 6 to 12; and free for children under six and Brandywine Conservancy members. For more information, please call 610-388-2700.

Photography is available upon request

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