97% of the time that I go home to Philly I will visit the Brandywine River Museum. Not only is it a beautiful space, it also houses one of my very favorite paintings.
Here is Mrs. DuPont, by Jefferson David Chalfant. She sure looks like a sourpuss, doesn’t she? Besides the detail which is incredible, I love the look on her face that he has captured. In this one small painting, he has captured so much of this woman’s personality. Ah, the power of the brush. Even though I didn't use a flash, the natural sunlight caused a bit of a glare on my photo. Trust me when I tell you that this work of art is much more impressive in person.
The musuem itself started life as Hoffman’s Mill, a gristmill built in 1864 that was part of the Brandywine Conservancy’s first preservation efforts in the area. Today, the museum features many design elements that pay homage to the building’s history.
Talk about personality; you can almost hear this statue squeal!
What about two birds in the hand? Is that worth 4 bushes?
The museum is mainly known for its collection of paintings by N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth. On this particular visit, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a tour being given by Jaime’s niece, Victoria. Her enthusiastic description of Jamie’s painting style made for a real special unexpected treat. Next time you are in the area, be sure to visit The Brandywine River Museum.
Hope you all have a terrific Thanksgiving! Here are two shots from a previous Thanksgiving, back when Disneyland used to host the pardoned turkey from The White House:
See more Brandywine photos at my main website.
5 comments:
Great photos!
I really do want to visit this museum someday, being a huge Wyeth fan. I think they have a bunch of Howard Pyle pictures as well.
Happy Thanksgiving Dave. I really like Philadelphia, I will look for this place on a return visit. Thanks for the art connections.
JG
My "bucket list" is really quite short -- But this museum has been on it since I was a teenager. I'll get there someday.
Thanks for the short trip report in the meantime, Dave.
@Major: A bunch of Howard Pyle paintings is much better than a pile of Howard Bunch paintings.
A good time to visit the Brandywine Museum is after Thanksgiving; they put up a tree with ornaments made entirely out of acorns, leaves, branches, etc. and they bring out the Wyeth family antique toy trains and have them running. Very cool to see!
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