Bucks County and the Philadelphia Sketch Club (Doylestown, USA)
Bucks County and the Philadelphia Sketch Club
Museum’s Pfundt Gallery
August 21 – November 21, 2010
As the renowned Philadelphia Sketch Club celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, marking it as America’s oldest continuously operating club for professional artists, the James A. Michener Art Museum recognizes the organization’s most notable Bucks County members with an exhibit of works on paper. Bucks County and the Philadelphia Sketch Club is on view August 21 through November 21, 2010 in the Museum’s Pfundt Gallery.
Bucks County and the Philadelphia Sketch Club is sponsored by Mary Lou and Andrew Abruzzese, The Pineville Tavern.
Founded by six former students of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts who wanted to improve their skills as illustrators, the Philadelphia Sketch Club began operations in 1860. Over the years, the Sketch Club responded to the needs of the arts community by offering classes, workshops, exhibit opportunities and peer support. Members have included such luminaries as Thomas Eakins, Thomas Anshutz, N.C. Wyeth and Alexander Calder, as well as the famed Bucks County painters Edward W. Redfield, Daniel Garber and Walter Baum.
“Throughout its long history, the Philadelphia Sketch Club has boasted a ‘who’s who’ of Philadelphia-area artists among its members,” explains Brian H. Peterson, the Museum’s Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator. “We’re very pleased to be able to highlight Bucks County’s contribution to the Club’s story, by offering a sampling of works on paper from our collection made by some of the major figures in the region’s artistic tradition, as well as works by contemporary artists with Bucks County connections.”
Highlights of Bucks County and the Philadelphia Sketch Club are charcoal drawings by Daniel Garber (1880-1958), pastel paintings by Walter Baum (1884-1956), woodblock prints by Herbert Pullinger (1878-1961), pencil drawings by Arthur Meltzer (1893-1989) and a watercolor painting by Ranulph Bye (1916-2003). Works on paper by such contemporary artists as Alan Fetterman (b. 1958), Sharon Shaw (b. 1957) and Idaherma Williams (b. 1933) showcase the varied styles of current Philadelphia Sketch Club members with ties to the Bucks County artistic community.