Deshong Art Museum

Last updated

Deshong Art Museum
Image of Deshong Art Museum from The Architectural Review Magazine.png
Image from The Architectural Review Magazine in 1918
Deshong Art Museum
EstablishedSeptember 30, 1916
Dissolved1984
Location Deshong Park, Eleventh Street and Edgemont Avenue, Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates 39°51′16.8″N75°21′40.6″W / 39.854667°N 75.361278°W / 39.854667; -75.361278
Type Art museum

The Deshong Art Museum, also known as the Deshong Memorial Art Gallery, was a public art gallery located in Deshong Park at Eleventh Street and Edgemont Avenue in Chester, Pennsylvania. The building displayed the art collection of wealthy businessman Alfred O. Deshong from 1916 to 1984. He donated his art collection, mansion and 22-acre (8.9 ha) property to the city of Chester after his death. At current valuations, the donation would be worth over US$24 million. Deshong Park was created from his donated property and the museum was built there in 1914. From 1961 to 1978, the building was used as a library but fell into disrepair and suffered theft of the art collection.

Contents

In 1979, a teenage boy was convicted of stealing US$300,000 worth of paintings over a three-year period by taking them off the wall and sliding them out of the museum's windows. [1] [2] [3]

The museum trust was dissolved in 1984. The museum building and park were given to the Delaware County Industrial Development Authority and the art collection was moved to Widener University.

Description

Interior layout of Deshong Art Museum Layout of Deshong Art Museum.png
Interior layout of Deshong Art Museum

The building was designed by architects Brazer and Robb. [4] It was designed to be fireproof with bronze doors and Dover marble exterior walls. [5] The German emperor's gallery at Cassel was used as a model for the main gallery. [6] The paintings and rugs that Deshong had collected were displayed in the main gallery [7] which is 25 by 59 feet (7.6 m × 18.0 m) in dimension and 30 feet (9.1 m) high. [5]

It contained over 300 pieces of art including 19th-century American and European paintings, Chinese carved stone jars and Japanese ivory statues. [8] The paintings included those from American Impressionist artists George Loftus Noyes, Edward Redfield and Robert Spencer. [9]

History

Shuttered museum in 2018 Alfred O Deshong Memorial.jpg
Shuttered museum in 2018

Alfred O. Deshong was a wealthy businessman who operated a successful quarry business and was a director of the Delaware County National Bank. [10] He invested his wealth into a large collection of art. He died in 1913 and donated his art collection, mansion and 22-acre (8.9 ha) property to the city of Chester. [11] In his will, Deshong stipulated that an art gallery should be built to display his art collection. [4] At current valuations, the donation would be worth US$24 million. [12]

Deshong Park was created from the property [6] and the Deshong Art Museum was built in the park. It was formally opened on September 30, 1916. [13] The museum was used as a library from 1961 to 1978 but fell into disrepair. [14] The library was moved to the J. Lewis Crozer Library in 1978. [15]

Art theft

Between 1976 and 1979, a teenager named Laurence McCall from Chester, Pennsylvania, stole multiple paintings and a plate from the gallery. [16] [17] [1] He would skip school and frequent the museum. [3] The museum had limited security and McCall stole more than 22 paintings [2] [1] by simply taking them off the wall and sliding them out of the museum's windows. [2] Many of the stolen items were sold through Sotheby's in New York City, where he delivered the items personally. [17] [3] McCall was eventually caught in September 1979, when he was 19. He was convicted of stealing US$300,000 worth of art and served three years in federal prison. [3] Most of the art was recovered by authorities. [2] [1]

Museum closure

The building was leased and restored by Widener University in 1979. In 1984, the museum trust was dissolved and the property was taken over by the Delaware County Industrial Development Authority. US$500,000 of the trust and the art collection was granted to Widener University. [3] The art collection is currently on display at Widener University. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Museum of Art</span> Art museum in New York City

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an art museum in New York City. It is the largest art museum in the Americas and fourth-largest in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester, Pennsylvania</span> First city in Pennsylvania, United States

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Delaware Valley on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. The population of Chester was 32,605 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Gallery of Art</span> National art museum in Washington, D.C., United States

The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the United States Congress. Andrew W. Mellon donated a substantial art collection and funds for construction. The core collection includes major works of art donated by Paul Mellon, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, Lessing J. Rosenwald, Samuel Henry Kress, Rush Harrison Kress, Peter Arrell Browne Widener, Joseph E. Widener, and Chester Dale. The Gallery's collection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, medals, and decorative arts traces the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas and the largest mobile created by Alexander Calder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Widener University</span> Private university in Chester, Pennsylvania, US

Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania and one in Wilmington, Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynnewood Hall</span> Neoclassical Revival mansion

Lynnewood Hall is a 110-room Neoclassical Revival mansion in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Currently undergoing renovations after sitting nearly vacant for years, it was designed by architect Horace Trumbauer for industrialist Peter A. B. Widener and built between 1897 and 1900. Considered the largest surviving Gilded Age mansion in the Philadelphia area, it housed one of the most important Gilded Age private art collections of European masterpieces and decorative arts, which had been assembled by Widener and his younger son, Joseph E. Widener.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dudley Museum and Art Gallery</span>

Dudley Museum and Art Gallery was a public museum and art gallery located in the town centre of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It was opened in 1883, situated within buildings on St James's Road, and remained at that site until its closure in 2016. Some of the museum collections have since been relocated to the Dudley Archives centre on Tipton Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Murray (sculptor)</span> American sculptor and educator (1869–1941)

Samuel Aloysius Murray was an American sculptor, educator, and protégé of the painter Thomas Eakins.

Crozer Health is a four-hospital health system based in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and serving Delaware County; northern Delaware and parts of western New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaetano Chierici</span> Italian painter (1838–1920)

Gaetano Chierici (1838–1920) was an Italian painter, mainly of genre works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Rural Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester Rural Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery founded in March 1863 in Chester, Pennsylvania. Some of the first burials were Civil War soldiers, both Union and Confederate, who died at the government hospital located at the nearby building which became the Crozer Theological Seminary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware County National Bank</span> United States historic place

Delaware County National Bank is a historic bank building in Chester, Pennsylvania, located at the southwest corner of 3rd Street and Avenue of the States adjacent to the Old St. Paul's Church burial ground. It was built between 1882 and 1884, and is a 2+1⁄2-story masonry building in the Renaissance Revival style. It is built of brick and brownstone and has a low hipped slate-covered roof. The roof features metal cresting, five projecting decorated chimneys, and four Corinthian order pilasters supporting the front pediment dormer. It was headquarters for the Delaware County National Bank from 1884 to 1930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Price Crozer</span> American textile manufacturer and philanthropist

John Price Crozer was an American textile manufacturer, banker, president of the board of directors of the American Baptist Publication Society, and philanthropist from Pennsylvania. His mills produced clothing for the US Army and other customers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred O. Deshong</span> American businessman, philanthropist and art collector (1837-1913)

Alfred Odenheimer Deshong was an American businessman, philanthropist and art collector from Chester, Pennsylvania. Deshong came from a wealthy family including his grandfather Peter Deshong and father John O. Deshong. He operated a successful quarry business for years and was a director of the Delaware County National Bank. He invested his fortune in the collection of art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John O. Deshong</span> American businessman and banker

John Odenheimer Deshong was an American businessman and banker in Chester, Pennsylvania. He came from a wealthy family including his father Peter Deshong and son Alfred O. Deshong.

Peter Deshong was an American businessman and banker in Chester, Pennsylvania. His family maintained their wealthy status through generations including his son John O. Deshong and grandson Alfred O. Deshong.

Jonathan Edwards Woodbridge was an American shipbuilder and naval architect from Richmond, Virginia. He served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War and was one of the Virginia Military Institute cadets who fought at the Battle of New Market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roswell Weidner</span> American artist

Roswell Weidner was an American artist known for his paintings, charcoal and pastel drawings, and prints. His subject matter included still life, landscapes, and portraits. He was a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) city school and country school in Chester Springs, and the Barnes Foundation. He worked in the Works Progress Administration Arts Project during the Great Depression and in a shipyard as an expediter during World War II. Weidner began teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1938. He was associated with the academy for 66 years, first as a student and later as a teacher, until his retirement in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deshong Park</span> Park in Chester, Pennsylvania

Deshong Park is a 22 acres (8.9 ha) park in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1913 on land donated to the city by wealthy businessman Alfred O. Deshong after his death. The donation of his property, mansion and art collection would be valued at over $24 million today. The park contained the Deshong Art Museum and the Deshong mansion. The museum building hosted the art collection and was used as a library from 1961 to 1978. However it fell into disrepair and suffered theft of the art collection. In 1984, the trust that managed the park and properties was dissolved and ownership was given to the Delaware County Industrial Development Authority. The art collection was moved to Widener University and the museum building was shuttered. The Deshong mansion fell into disrepair, suffered a partial collapse in 2013, and was demolished in 2014. The park has fallen into disrepair, suffered from crime and in 2018, 60% of the park was sold for commercial development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Lewis Crozer Library</span> Public library in Chester, Pennsylvania

The J. Lewis Crozer Library is a public library in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1769 as one of the earliest libraries established in Pennsylvania. It was chartered as the Chester Library Company in 1830 and reincorporated in 1879 as the Chester Free Library. In 1925, the library was renamed in recognition of a $250,000 gift bequeathed to it by the wealthy philanthropist J. Lewis Crozer. The library occupied several buildings over the years, including the Deshong Art Museum from 1961 to 1978. The current library building was built in 1976 as a neighborhood branch and became the main library in 1978.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The City - Stolen Art Identified". The New York Times. 18 October 1979. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Spencer, Gill (29 July 2011). "Former art thief could really use a job". www.delcotimes.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Schaefer, Mari A. (10 January 2010). "Languishing Deshong property frustrates Chester". www.inquirer.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  4. 1 2 The Architectural Review - A Magazine of Architecture & Decoration. London. January 1918. pp. 63–64. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. 1 2 Architecture and Building, Volume 48. New York: The William T. Comstock Company. 2016. p. 163. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  6. 1 2 Architecture. C. Scribner's Sons. January 1916. p. 223. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Chester. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. 2008. p. 19. ISBN   978-0-7385-6348-0. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  8. 1 2 Schaefer, Mari A. (14 July 2010). "Pieces from Deshong collection go on display at Widener". www.philly.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Chester Magazine fall 2014". www.issuu.com. 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  10. ↑ Cope, Gilbert (1904). Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania. New York: The Lewis Publishing Company. p. 65. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  11. ↑ Schaefer, Mari A. (10 April 2014). "Chester's crumbling Deshong Mansion demolished". www.inquirer.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "Widener University Art Gallery". ww.visitdelcopa.com. Visit Delco. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  13. ↑ Castello, Eugene (November 1916). The American Magazine of Art. United States: American Federation of Arts. pp. 37–38. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  14. ↑ Rodgers, Loretta (27 September 2014). "Chester community celebrates redevelopment of Deshong Park". Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "J. Lewis Crozer Library History". www.crozerlibrary.org. J. Lewis Crozer Library. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  16. ↑ Burnham, Sophie (15 February 1987). "As the Stakes in the Art World Rise, So do the Laws and Lawsuits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  17. 1 2 Woestendiek, John (4 May 1986). "Painted in a corner by his past: Art thief pays for his crime, and pays, and pays". Philadelphia Inquirer . ProQuest   1829490456. Archived from the original on 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2023-09-03– via ProQuest.
  18. ↑ "Widener University Art Collection". museumsusa.org. Stories USA, Inc. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  19. ↑ Waltzer, Jim (21 May 2015). "The Fight to Bring Chester Back From the Brink". www.mainlinetoday.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  20. ↑ "Widener University Art Collection and Gallery" (PDF). www.myfairleydesign.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.