from your Convention Hotel, and if you like the art of the Wyeths,
you're going to love this Museum.
The Brandywine River Museum has an extensive collection of works
by the Wythe family - - N.C., Andrew, and Jamie - - as well as works
by Brandywine school founder Howard Pyle and students including
Maxfield Parrish, as well as paintings by American illustrators
Charles Dana Gibson, Rockwell Kent and others. Other works include
19th-century landscapes, still lifes and interior scenes by artists
including Jasper Cropsey, George Cope and Jefferson David Chalfant.
The Museum is open every day from 9:30 to 4:30.
Admission is $10 US for Adults, and $6 US for Seniors (65 and above).
But there's more.
As luck would have it, The house where N.C. Wyeth raised his
extraordinarily creative children and the studio in which he painted many
of his memorable works of art have been restored to reflect their
character in 1945, the year of the artist's death. Educational tours
departing from the museum are offered at timed intervals Wednesday
through Sunday; $5 per person in addition to museum admission.
And even more luck, for there's a second tour!.
For more than 70 years, the Kuerner Farm was a major source of
inspiration to Andrew Wyeth. Since his earliest painting of the farm in
1932 at the age of 15, Wyeth had found subjects in its people, animals,
buildings and landscapes for more than 1,000 works of art. Many of
Wyeth's best-known works of art emerged from his long fascination with
the farm, including Winter 1946 (1946), Groundhog Day (1959),
Evening at Kuerners (1970), Young Bull (1960), Spring Fed (1967),
and Overflow (1978). Reproductions of these works are viewed on the
tour, along with parts of the house, barn and property to demonstrate
how Wyeth altered the physical details of a site in order to communicate
a particular idea. Educational tours departing from the museum are
offered at timed intervals. Wednesday through Sunday. $5 per person
in addition to museum admission. Due to uneven walking surfaces,
the Kuerner Farm is not accessible to disabled individuals.
WINTERTHUR !
About 7 miles from the Brandywine River Museum is the world's finest
collection of Americana and American Decorative Arts.
Winterthur, the former residence of Henry Francis Dupont, has
nearly 200 period rooms, all purchased or salvaged from actual
houses. The rooms, which range in date from 1640 to 1840, are
completely furnished with paintings, silver, pewter, glassware, textiles,
and ceramics. For example:
A room taken from a 1680s house in Massachusetts displays plain
pine tables and chairs, along with a carved oak cupboard.
The 1733 Readbourne Parlor from Maryland's Eastern Shore has a
chest from Boston painted to resemble Chinese lacquerwork, a tea
table and chairs from Philadelphia, and a painting by John Wollaston.
There are rooms taken from homes in Maryland and Upstate New York.
There is a breathtakingly beautiful 1822 Montmorenci staircase from
North Carolina; a Charleston, South Carolina room with Chippendale
furniture; and a room of Empire-style furniture by Duncan Phyfe.
Every room is different, and there's a surprise around every corner.
Winterthur is a little pricier than other venues we describe, but well
worth it. You will never see anything like it anywhere else - - because
there is nothing like it anywhere else!!
The General Admission price is $18 US for Adults; $16 for Seniors
(62 and over). The Admission includes access to the gardens, a
garden tram tour, the Galleries and special exhibitions, and an
Introductory Tour of the array of period rooms on the 5th and 6th floors.
If, in addition to the Introductory Tour, you'd like a 1 or 2 hour guided tour,
they are available at increased prices (make reservations at
1-800-448-3883).
All Tour packages include the Library (wait 'til you see what's there!)
because the Library is free.
Winterthur admission tickets are honored for two consecutive days
so if you prefer, you could visit the House on one day and
return the next day for the Library and Gardens.
The Museum (the House) and Gardens are open Tuesday-Sunday,
10 AM - 5 PM. Last tour is at 3:30 PM.
The Library is open Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM.
Winterthur is at 5105 Kennett Pike (Route 52), Winterthur DE 19735,
(For in-car GPS or online maps, use 5105 Kennett Pike,
Wilmington, DE 19807.)
Yes, Winterthur has two places where you may have lunch.
The Pavilion, in the Visitor Center, has hot entrees, panini, and a salad
bar. Open Tuesday-Sunday 10-4.
The Cafe is in the HF DuPont cottage, and has baked goods, salads,
sandwiches, soups, fruit, coffee. Tuesday - Sunday 10 - 4:30.
Did I mention the Paper Dolls ??
Winterthur has one of the truly great Paper Doll Collections - -
the Maxine Waldron Collection. The collection is so extensive that
the items do not have individual catalog records, but are arranged
in categories - - Handmade Dolls, Servicemen, Advertising Dolls
(including trade cards), Greeting cards, Miscellaneous (Movie Stars,
Dolly Dingle, etc.), 3-D (including pantins), Uncut Dolls,
Furniture and Buildings (but not Toy Theaters - - though see below),
and Oversized.
So what specifically can you see?
How about an embroidered chenille and paper dress trimmed
with gold, dating from about 1750? No doll, but, oh what a costume!
How about handmade paper booklets - - Overlays, including one
called "Coiffures"?
How about La Petite Psyche, plus three other Psyches? Wait 'til
you see them - - dolls, costumes, hats, boxes, little mirrors!
How about an 1840 piece - - doll, six costumes, hat - - believed to be of
young Queen Victoria?
What would you think of the famed "National Costumes" - - the Anson
Randolph family?
How about Jenny Lind, or Tom Thumb?
Perhaps some of the great European paper dolls - - Brave Boy,
Boy and Girl, the Virtuous Girl, or the Greatest and Most Beautiful
Doll ??
Those are just a few that I know are in there. I can't begin to describe
all the treasures that will be revealed before your eyes.
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