Andrew Wyeth. Maga's Daughter, 1966, tempera
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This email blast
is based on one of Garth Lax’s emails from 2011. It was so well done, I only had to verify
& update a few things and run with it!
— Valerie Keller
BRANDYWINE RIVER MUSEUM
On US 1, in
Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, is a Museum housed in a converted 19th Century grist
mill. It's a 20 mile, or 30 minute, drive from your Convention
Hotel, and if you like the art of the Wyeths, you're going to love this
Museum.
As luck would
have it, right now there is a retrospective of the works of Andrew Wyeth that
will be on display during our convention.
The Brandywine
River Museum has an extensive collection of works by the Wyeth 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 5:00.
Admission is $18
for Adults, and $15 for Seniors (65+).
But there's more.
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 daily; $8 per person
in addition to museum admission.
And 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 MUSEUM
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 $20 for Adults; $18 for Seniors (62+). 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 for an additional fee (make reservations at 1-800-448-3883 or
302.888.4600 (TTY 302.888.4907).
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 3:15 PM.
The Library is open Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM.
Winterthur has
two places where you can lunch:
– The Cottage Café, in the museum store, features baked
goods, smoothies, sandwiches, soups, salads, fresh fruit, gourmet coffee, and
wine. The Cottage Café provides inside seating for 20 and additional seating on the
adjacent patio. Open Tues.-Sun. 10am-4pm
– Visitor Center
Garden Café,
boasting a great view of the gardens, is located in the Visitor Center
Pavillion, and features: entrees, including the chef's action stations, pressed
panini, and an extensive salad bar; as well as a la carte options including soups, desserts, and
more. Open Tuesday-Sunday 10-4.
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.)
Did I mention
the Paper Dolls ??
– at the WINTERTHUR LIBRARY
Winterthur has
one of the truly great Paper Doll Collections - - the Maxine Waldron Collection
of Children’s Books and Paper Toys. The paper doll 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.
Above, I noted
that Toy Theaters were not in the Waldron Paper Doll Collection.
However, the Paper Toys and Games collections are fascinating as well,
and contain such rarities as: Peep
Shows depicting Garden Parties, Model Villages, a Farmyard, and exotic
places, Victorian Theater sets, complete with stages, props, and characters,
A Roll Panorama, made by Milton Bradley in the late 1800s
Board Games, such
as The Circle of Knowledge, an 1818 copy of Newton's New Game of Virtue
Rewarded and Vice Punished, and an 1840 German geography lottery game.
All these are in the Archives in the Library, open M-F, 8:30-4:30.
Note that the Museum (House) is open Tuesday-Sunday, so plan accordingly if you
wish to see both. Again, the Winterthur tickets are valid
for two consecutive days.
Now - - the
Winterthur Librarian needs at least a week’s advance notice if you want to see
some of this incredible collection. To make an appointment, contact Jeanne
Solensky, Librarian
at the Winterthur Library. The library’s
address and phone number:
5105
Kennett Pike, Winterthur, DE 19735. 302-888-4853
It’s an extensive collection,
so it would help if you have some ideas about what you most want to see. Jeanne Solensky provided a link to a written
inventory of what is in the Maxine Waldron collection and wrote, “The paper
dolls are in Series II and arranged by category.”
http://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0121.htm
To get a glimpse of some items
from the collection, there have been articles written for the Winterthur blog:
http://museumblog.winterthur.org/?s=paper+doll&submit=Search
There is so much
to see at Winterthur, from the extensive landscaped gardens to special exhibits
to guided tours; you definitely want to do some research! To see the “Plan Your Visit” page for more
ideas:
DINING OPTIONS
If you'd like
to eat lunch other than at Winterthur, here are two options (recommended
enthusiastically by Marion Creamer in 2011!):
Hank's Place:
http://www.hanks-place.net/
Hank's
Place is a nice, casual restaurant at the intersection of US 1 and Route
100. It serves soups, salads, and has a wide variety of sandwiches.
The Gables at
Chadds Ford:
http://thegablesatchaddsford.com/
For a higher
level of ambiance and excellent food, you might try The Gables at Chadds
Ford. The Gables is located in a converted 1800s dairy barn, and boasts a
simple though elegant setting. The menu
offers a contemporary twist on American cuisine, using French and Asian influences. For lunch,
the Gables offers Soups and Salads, Hot Entrees ranging from Jambalaya to crab
cake sandwiches to Petit filet, as well as a Fish du Jour and a Quiche du
Jour. It's located on
US 1 between Route 100 and Route 52.
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2017 INTERNATIONAL PAPER DOLL
CONVENTION
August 9 - 13, 2017
Airport Embassy Suites, 9000 Bartram Ave., Philadelphia, PA
_____________________________________________________
CONVENTION REGISTRATION
NAME__________________________________________________
ADDRESS_______________________________________________
EMAIL__________________________________________________
PHONE_________________________________________________
[ ]
Registration: $295
[ ]
Absentee Registration (Souvenirs):
$100.00 USD
[ ]
Guest Registration (3 Meals/No souvenirs) $150.00
GUEST
NAME:__________________________________________
Make checks payable/mail to: Linda Ocasio
96 Minell Place
Teaneck, NJ 07666
