Delaware Art Museum

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Delaware Art Museum
Dam front web.jpg
Exterior view
Delaware Art Museum
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Established1912
Location2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, Delaware 19806, USA 302.571.9590
Coordinates 39°45′55″N75°33′54″W / 39.76528°N 75.56500°W / 39.76528; -75.56500
Type Art museum
DirectorMolly Giordano
CuratorHeather Campbell Coyle
Public transit accessAiga bus trans.svg DART First State bus: 10
Website www.delart.org
Mary Magdalene by Frederick Sandys, c. 1858-1860 Mariya Magdalena.jpg
Mary Magdalene by Frederick Sandys, c. 1858-1860

The Delaware Art Museum is an art museum located on the Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, Delaware, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 objects. The museum was founded in 1912 as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in honor of the artist Howard Pyle. [1] [2] The collection focuses on American art and illustration from the 19th to the 21st century, and on the English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood movement of the mid-19th century.

Contents

The museum building was expanded and renovated in 2005 and includes a 9-acre (36,000 m2) Sculpture Park, the Helen Farr Sloan Library and Archives, studio art classes, a children's learning area, as well as a cafe and museum store.

History

The museum was founded in 1912 after Howard Pyle's death as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts (WSFA), with over 100 paintings, drawings, and prints purchased from Pyle's widow Anne. Pyle was the best-known American illustrator of his day; he died unexpectedly in 1911 while on a trip to Italy.

Who shall be captain? a 1911 painting by Howard Pyle at the museum Pyle pirates treasfight.jpg
Who shall be captain? a 1911 painting by Howard Pyle at the museum

Pyle left behind many students and patrons in his home town of Wilmington who wished to honor his memory through the museum, including Frank Schoonover, Stanley Arthurs, and Louisa du Pont Copeland. The museum's charter stated its purpose "to promote the knowledge and enjoyment of and cultivation in the fine arts in the State of Delaware." [3]

From 1912 to 1922, the WSFA did not have a permanent home. It held annual exhibitions at the Hotel duPont of work by Pyle, as well as juried exhibitions of his pupils and other Delaware artists. The Pyle Collection continued to grow due to the largess of Willard S. Morse, who gave over 100 Pyle pen and ink drawings to the WSFA between 1915 and 1919. In 1922, the WSFA rented three rooms in the New Library Building on the corner of 10th and Market Streets in downtown Wilmington. [4]

In 2005, the DAM took out a $24.8 million loan in the form of tax-exempt bonds (to be repaid by 2037) in order to finance an ambitious $32.5 million doubling in size of its building. [5] During the 2008 financial crisis, its endowment dropped from $33 million to $21 million. In response, the museum sold $30 million worth of art from its collection in order to repay its loans and increase its endowment, a move that brought sanctions from the Association of Art Museum Directors. [5]

Bancroft donation

Portrait of Elizabeth Siddal by Pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti, c. 1854 Portrait-of-elizabeth-siddal.jpg
Portrait of Elizabeth Siddal by Pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti, c. 1854

In 1931, the estate of Samuel Bancroft contacted the WSFA with an offer to donate a collection of Pre-Raphaelite works, along with 11 acres of land to house a museum for the collection. Bancroft acquired the collection beginning in the 1890s and it is the "largest and most important collection of British Pre-Raphaelite art and manuscript materials in the United States." [3] Despite the hardships of the Great Depression, the WSFA raised $350,000 for the new building which opened in 1938. [6] At the same time, the name was changed to Delaware Art Center. The new building was designed by architects Victorine & Samuel Homsey and associate architect G. Morris Whiteside II. [7]

Expansion

The WSFA moved into the Delaware Art Center in June 1938, with the Wilmington Academy of Fine Arts running educational programs on the ground floor. The onset of World War II resulted in strict gas rationing, which drastically reduced the attendance to the museum. The Wilmington Academy of Fine Arts disbanded in 1943 and turned its assets over to the Delaware Art Center, forming the basis of its education department, which grew to more than 500 students by 1954.

The rapid growth of educational programs after World War II required the Delaware Art Center to expand by 1956. Studios and training facilities were included in the expansion, thanks to a $300,000 donation by H. Fletcher Brown. [3] A further renovation was completed in 1970, adding air conditioning and humidity control to the building. In 1972, the Delaware Art Center was awarded accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums. Shortly thereafter, the Delaware Art Center was renamed the Delaware Art Museum to "reflect the growing strength of its collections, programs, and constituency." [8]

A further expansion was completed in 1987 which effectively doubled the size of the museum. [9] However, the rapid growth of attendance, programming, and outreach required a further expansion in 2005. During the expansion, the museum hosted programming at what is now the Chase Center on the Riverfront.

Collections

The Delaware Art Museum's collections are predominantly drawn from late 19th- and early 20th-century American illustration, as well as works from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The basis of the museum's collections are the works of Howard Pyle and his pupils N.C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, and Stanley Arthurs. Helen Farr Sloan was the wife of artist John French Sloan, and she began donations in 1961 that eventually totalled 5,000 objects. [3] [10]

Since the 1970s, the museum has added works by modern artists such as Jacob Lawrence, Louise Nevelson, Robert Motherwell, George Segal, and Jim Dine. [3] The permanent collections at the museum include the following: [11]

Pre-Raphaelite Collection

Lady Lilith, completed 1873, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Lady-Lilith.jpg
Lady Lilith , completed 1873, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Portrait of Absalom Jones, 1810, by Raphaelle Peale. Absalom-Jones Peale.jpg
Portrait of Absalom Jones, 1810, by Raphaelle Peale.

19th Century American art

Marooned, 1909, by Howard Pyle. Marooned (close up).jpg
Marooned, 1909, by Howard Pyle.

American illustration

Howard Pyle and his students

Other American illustration

American art of the early 20th Century

Spring Rain, 1912, by John Sloan. Spring-Rain Sloan.jpg
Spring Rain, 1912, by John Sloan.

Post-World War II American art

Helen Farr Sloan Library

"Wake Dearest" from The Flower Book by Edward Burne-Jones. Edward-Burne-Jones-Wake-Dearest.jpg
"Wake Dearest" from The Flower Book by Edward Burne-Jones.

Two separate libraries opened in the new Delaware Art Center building in 1938: one centered on the collection of Howard Pyle, and the other centering on Samuel Bancroft, Jr. and his collections of Victorian books and books on Pre-Raphaelite painting. In 1978 Helen Farr Sloan donated the collections of her husband, the John Sloan Manuscript and Library Collection. A consolidated library opened in 1985 in the new Pamela and Lammot du Pont Copeland wing and was named in honor of Mrs. Sloan. It contains over 30,000 volumes and 1,000 boxes of personal papers, photographs and other material related to John Sloan, Samuel Bancroft, Jr. and Howard Pyle and his students. [3] It recently acquired a copy of The Flower Book by Edward Burne-Jones. [12] In 2009, the museum received the M.G. Sawyer Collection of Decorative Bindings, which contains over 2,000 volumes. [13]

Copeland Sculpture Garden

External videos
Three Rectangles Horizontal Jointed Gyratory III
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Kinetic sculpture at the Delaware Art Museum (1:03), Delaware Art Museum [14]

The nine acre sculpture garden behind the museum includes nine large sculptures and an old reservoir converted into a labyrinth.

Wild Iris, 1974, by Isaac Witkin Wild Iris 1974 Witkin 1.JPG
Wild Iris, 1974, by Isaac Witkin

Highlights include the 13-foot-tall bronze Crying Giant by Tom Otterness and Three Rectangles Horizontal Jointed Gyratory III by George Rickey, which moves in the wind. Joe Moss is represented by a sound sculpture which modifies and distorts nearby sounds.

Labyrinth DAM Labyrinth Wilmington DE.JPG
Labyrinth

Exhibitions

The museum presents about ten special exhibitions each year with topics ranging from nationally known modern artists to historical Delaware folk art. Since 2009 the exhibitions have included the works of Leonard Baskin, Delaware photographer Fred Comegys, Harold Eugene Edgerton, James Gurney, May Morris, Maxfield Parrish, Ellen Bernard Thompson Pyle, Frank Schoonover, and John Sloan, as well as works from the collection of the Royal Holloway, University of London, and African American Art from the American Folk Art Museum. [15]

Exhibitions have also included the works of Mary Page Evans, Howard Pyle, Katharine Pyle, and Katharine Richardson Wireman, as well as The Flower Book by Edward Burne-Jones. [16]

Studio art education

The museum offers about 100 programs each year, ranging from 8-week classes to 1-day workshops, as well as open studios. Special classes are offered to adults, teenagers, and children in areas including drawing, painting, photography, jewelry making, and ceramics. [17]

See also

Love's Messenger, 1885, by Marie Spartali Stillman Loves Messenger Stillman DAM.jpg
Love's Messenger , 1885, by Marie Spartali Stillman

Artworks

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood</span> Group of English painters, poets and critics, founded in 1848

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner who formed a seven-member "Brotherhood" partly modelled on the Nazarene movement. The Brotherhood was only ever a loose association and their principles were shared by other artists of the time, including Ford Madox Brown, Arthur Hughes and Marie Spartali Stillman. Later followers of the principles of the Brotherhood included Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and John William Waterhouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walker Art Gallery</span> Art gallery in Liverpool, England

The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Pyle</span> American illustrator and author (1853–1911)

Howard Pyle was an American illustrator, painter, and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny Cornforth</span> English artists model (1835–1909)

Fanny Cornforth was an English artist's model, and the mistress and muse of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Cornforth performed the duties of housekeeper for Rossetti. In Rossetti's paintings, the figures modelled by Fanny Cornforth are generally rather voluptuous, differing from those of other models such as Alexa Wilding, Jane Morris and Elizabeth Siddal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Spartali Stillman</span> English painter

Marie Stillman was a British member of the second generation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Of the Pre-Raphaelites, she had one of the longest-running careers, spanning sixty years and producing over one hundred and fifty works. Though her work with the Brotherhood began as a favourite model, she soon trained and became a respected painter, earning praise from Dante Gabriel Rossetti and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandywine School</span>

The Brandywine School was a style of illustration—as well as an artists colony in Wilmington, Delaware and in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, near the Brandywine River—both founded by artist Howard Pyle (1853–1911) at the end of the 19th century. The works produced there were widely published in adventure novels, magazines, and romances in the early 20th century. Pyle’s teachings would influence such notable illustrators as N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Harvey Dunn, and Norman Rockwell. Pyle himself would come to be known as the "Father of American Illustration." Many works related to the Brandywine School may be seen at the Brandywine River Museum of Art, in Chadds Ford.

<i>A Vision of Fiammetta</i> 1878 painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

A Vision of Fiammetta is an oil painting created by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, in the Pre-Raphaelite style, created in 1878. The painting was one half of one of Rossetti's "double works", accompanying his Ballads and Sonnets (1881). Maria Spartali Stillman modelled for the painting. The subject of painting is Boccaccio's muse named Fiammetta.

<i>Mary Magdalene</i> (Sandys) Painting by Frederick Sandys

Mary Magdalene is a Pre-Raphaelite oil-on-panel painting by the British artist Frederick Sandys, executed in 1858–1860. Mary Magdalene was the only figure from the Bible that Sandys ever painted. Having sharp features reminiscent of Lizzie Siddal, Mary is depicted in front of a patterned forest-green damask. She holds an alabaster ointment cup, a traditional attribute which associates her with the unnamed sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet in Luke 7:37. Like other Pre-Raphaelite painters, Frederick Sandys gave Magdalene a sensual look.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Museums at the University of Delaware</span> Collection of museums in Newark, Delaware, United States

The University Museums at the University of Delaware is the collective name for the University of Delaware's collections of American art, minerals, and Pre-Columbian ceramics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Pyle Studios</span> United States historic place

The Howard Pyle Studios are two historic buildings used for painting and teaching by illustrator Howard Pyle. The studios are located in a densely populated neighborhood near Brandywine Park and the Delaware Avenue Historic District. The building used by Pyle as his own studio was built in 1883, mainly in brick with a Tudor Revival half timbered gable. The smaller studio, that Pyle used for teaching, was built in a similar style in 1900. After Pyle's death in 1911, the buildings were owned by Stanley Arthurs, until 1950, and then by Ellen duPont Wheelwright until 1964. The Studio Group acquired the studios in 1964 and continues to use them as art studios. In 1978, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<i>Lady Lilith</i> 1860–1873 oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Lady Lilith is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti first painted in 1866–1868 using his mistress Fanny Cornforth as the model, then altered in 1872–73 to show the face of Alexa Wilding. The subject is Lilith, who was, according to ancient Judaic myth, "the first wife of Adam" and is associated with the seduction of men and the murder of children. She is shown as a "powerful and evil temptress" and as "an iconic, Amazon-like female with long, flowing hair."

<i>Found</i> (Rossetti) Painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Found is an unfinished oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, now in the Delaware Art Museum. The painting is Rossetti's only treatment in oil of a contemporary moral subject, urban prostitution, and although the work remained incomplete at Rossetti's death in 1882, he always considered it one of his most important works, returning to it many times from the mid-1850s until the year before his death.

<i>Loves Messenger</i> Painting by Marie Spartali Stillman

Love's Messenger is an 1885 watercolor by Marie Spartali Stillman in which a dove has just carried a love letter to a woman standing in front of an open window. She wears a red rose, and has just put down her embroidery of a blind-folded Cupid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank E. Schoonover Studios</span> United States historic place

The Frank E. Schoonover Studios in Wilmington, Delaware comprise a historic building that was used by the students of illustrator Howard Pyle, including the original tenants Frank Schoonover, N.C. Wyeth, Harvey Dunn, and Clifford Ashley. Philanthropist and art collector Samuel Bancroft paid for the building which was designed by the prominent local architect Capt. E.L. Rice, Jr. and built in 1905 in a simplified Queen Anne or Shavian Manorial style. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

<i>Mnemosyne</i> (Rossetti) Oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Mnemosyne, also titled Lamp of Memory and Ricordanza, is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti begun in 1875 or early 1876 and completed in 1881. Jane Morris was the model, and Frederick Richards Leyland bought the painting in 1881 and displayed it in his drawing room with five other Rossetti "stunners." At about the same time Rossetti, a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, was painting Astarte Syriaca, a larger painting completed in 1877 with Morris in a very similar pose.

<i>Veronica Veronese</i> 1872 painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Veronica Veronese is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted in 1872 with Alexa Wilding as the model. The painting was conceived as a companion to Lady Lilith. Rossetti sold the painting to one of his best clients, shipping magnate Frederick Richards Leyland. In 1923 it was acquired by the estate of Samuel Bancroft which donated it in 1935 to the Delaware Art Museum.

<i>Water Willow</i> (Rossetti) 1871 oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Water Willow is an 1871 oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It depicts Jane Morris in the river landscape near Kelmscott Manor, with the manor in the left background and Kelmscott Church below the hill to the right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Bancroft</span> American industrialist and art collector

Samuel Bancroft was an American industrialist as well as a major collector of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artwork. His appreciation for art and his desire to give back to the community led to his becoming a prominent philanthropist in the early 20th century, particularly of the Brandywine School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward L. Loper Sr.</span> American painter

Edward Leroy Loper Sr. was an African American artist and teacher from Delaware, best known for his vibrant palette and juxtaposition of colors. He taught painting for almost 70 years.

Sarah Katherine Smith (1878–1956+) was an artist and educator known for her illustrations, etchings, prints, and paintings. For 25 years, she was the head of the art department at the Gulf Park College for Women in Long Beach, Mississippi.

References

Prioress' Tale by Edward Burne-Jones. Prioress's Tale DAM 1935-41.jpg
Prioress' Tale by Edward Burne-Jones.
Ruth Gleaning c. 1859 by Randolph Rogers. Ruth Gleaning DAM.JPG
Ruth Gleaning c. 1859 by Randolph Rogers.
  1. Soulsman; Betsy Rice (November 13, 2011). "Art museum marks a century of culture". The News Journal (Wilmington).
  2. Holme, Charles; Eglinton; Boswell, Peyton; McCormick, William Bernard; Whigham, Henry James, Guy (July 1916), The International Studio, vol. 59 (233 ed.), New York: John Lane Company, p. LXXX{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Binkowski, Kraig; Delaware Art Museum (2004). Delaware Art Museum: Selected Treasures. London: Scala. p. 136. ISBN   9781857593204.
  4. Moore, Constance. History of the Delaware Art Museum written in 1962.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. 1 2 Daniel Grant (July 31, 2019), Building on credit: why museums like Lacma use bonds to fund ambitious expansions The Art Newspaper .
  6. Cary, Elizabeth Luther (1933-03-26). "Pre-Raphaelite Art for a Museum". The New York Times. pp. IX 10:6. The Bancroft estate has now made the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts an offer of ground for a museum, almost three acres on a charming site, with the Brandywine Creek for a rear boundary, the offer conditional on the erection of the museum in five years time. … if the museum is built, the Bancroft collection, consisting of many interesting items in addition to the pre Raphaelite material, will be housed within it…
  7. W. Barksdale Maynard, Buildings of Delaware (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008): 142-143.
  8. "Centennial History" (PDF). Delaware Art Museum.
  9. "Delaware Art Museum Quarterly 1.3".
  10. Sozansk, Edward J. (November 20, 2011). "Art: Delaware Art Museum show explores the versatility of Howard Pyle". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved November 22, 2011.
  11. Binkowski, Kraig; Delaware Art Museum (2004). Delaware Art Museum: selected treasures. Scala. p. 136. ISBN   9781857593204.
  12. Delaware Art Museum Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine A SECRET BOOK OF DESIGNS: THE BURNE-JONES FLOWER BOOK. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  13. Delaware Art Museum [ permanent dead link ] Press Release. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  14. "Kinetic sculpture at the Delaware Art Museum". Delaware Art Museum. October 20, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  15. Delaware Art Museum: Past Exhibitions Archived 2012-02-19 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved February 9, 2012
  16. Delaware Art Museum: Upcoming Exhibitions Archived 2012-02-19 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  17. STUDIO ART CLASSES, Delaware Art Museum. Retrieved February 6, 2012.