Shorts

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Shorts “A Portrait of an American City: 200 Years of New Castle History,” chronicling the founding and settlement of the first community laid out in present-day Lawrence County, is on exhibit at the Lawrence County Historical Society through May 1999. Laid out by John Carlysle Stewart in 1798, New Castle was incorporated as a borough in 1825 and recognized as a city in 1869. “A...
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“From the Things We Know Best”: The Art of William W. Swallow

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on “From the Things We Know Best”: The Art of William W. Swallow Two passions absorbed William W. Swallow (1912-1962) his entire life: art and the teaching of art. During a career that spanned just three decades, Swallow created ceramic sculptures that transformed the people and life of agrarian Pennsylvania into timeless, time­-honored icons. Although he achieved national fame, he continued – with singular devotion – teaching high school students...
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Preserving The Past, Protecting The Future: The State Museum Of Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Preserving The Past, Protecting The Future: The State Museum Of Pennsylvania Part of a museum’s mission is to collect, safeguard, exhibit, and interpret relevant objects and artifacts, and The State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg fulfills this goal with singular distinction. Since 1905, the institution has preserved vast collections that chronicle the Commonwealth’s history and natural heritage from earth’s beginning to the present (see...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Hope Abandoned: Eastern State Penitentiary By Mark Perrott Pennsylvania Prison Society and Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, 1999 (105 pages, cloth, $28.00) The images by Pittsburgh photographer Mark Perrott of Philadelphia’s “modern ruin,” Eastern State Penitentiary, are haunting in their portrayal of a medieval-looking fortress that is falling into grave disrepair....
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Anchor by Stuart Davis

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Anchor by Stuart Davis “I am an American, born in Philadelphia of American stock. I studied art in America. I paint what I see in America, in other words, I paint the American scene,” so Stuart Davis (1894-1964) described himself and his work. He was raised in an environment that nurtured artistic leanings. His mother, Helen Stu­art Foulke, a sculptor, and his father, Edward Wyatt Davis, art editor for the...
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Current and Coming

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Current and Coming Mammoth Scale Sometime about 1808, renowned Philadelphia physician Caspar Wistar (1761-1818) – for whom the city’s Wistar Institute is named – asked sculptor William Rush (1756-1833) to create a series of large-scale anatomical models. Rush, known chiefly as a maker of civic statuary and ships’ figureheads, responded with the strangest works of his career: a massive inner...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf A Sacred Challenge: Violet Oakley and the Pennsylvania Capitol Murals By Ruthann Hubert-Kemper and Jason L. Wilson, editors Capitol Preservation Committee, 2003 (168 pages, cloth, $59.95) Violet Oakley (1874-1961) was an ideal candidate to accept the challenge of creating the artwork adorning the Governor’s Reception Room in Pennsylvania’s opulent State Capitol in Har­risburg. Born...
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Celebrating a Milestone with the Best of the Past

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Celebrating a Milestone with the Best of the Past Over the years — thirty-five to be precise — Pennsylvania Heritage has enjoyed the distinct pleasure — and great privilege — of presenting readers a veritable treasure trove of works of art held by historical organizations and cultural institutions throughout the Keystone State and beyond. From museums, colleges and universities, galleries, and libraries, we borrowed exceptional artworks in a...
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