The Brandywine River Museum...warning art nerd talk below

We woke up early this morning in Coatesville, PA, and headed over to the Brandywine Museum. I have been wanting to visit this Museum for years.


Here is Lindsey in front of the Museum before we went in
This is the view from one of the hallways. That is the Brandywine River in the background.
You weren't allowed to take pictures in the galleries, but Lindsey snuck this one really fast. I have been wanting to see these paintings in person ever since I was in art school. N.C. Wyeth has been a big influence on my work and I was glad to be able to study these famous paintings up close.
Here I am looking at a painting I used to drool over in school. I guess I still drooled a bit. The way N.C. designs his shapes and the simple way of suggesting detail was really neat to see in person. This painting of Pirates I am looking at was done in black and white, except for the yellow sky.
Another picture from the N.C. gallery
Here is a photo of me looking at an Andrew Wyeth painting in his section. The whole 3rd floor is dedicated to the Wyeths. One gallery had N.C., one had Andrew, and the other had Jamie as well as some other Wyeths and folks related to the Wyeths (Peter Hurd, etc.). Again, it was really cool to see Andrew's paintings, a lot of very famous ones here!

I would recommend this museum to anyone who is within a day's driving distance. If you aren't that close then fly here. Well I don't know...it was the ultimate museum for me, the Wyeths have been a big inspiration for me. So if you feel the same way, you need to see it.

Besides the Wyeth family there were really great paintings by Howard Pyle (N.C.'s teacher), Dean Cornwell, Mead Schaeffer, FrankSchoonover, Maxfield Parrish, and a lot of other insanely good painters that I have never heard of.

There is an exhibition up right now on the Second floor that shows the "Commercial" work of several illustrators next to their more personal "easel" paintings. Too bad that there is such a negative view of "illustration" vs. "easel painting" . Any of N.C. Wyeth's illustrations are 1000 times more creative than any easel painting done today, and even more creative than a lot of easel paintings done in his time. But since they are getting their idea from an art director or a book that they have to illustrate, some say that it isn't the stereotypical romantic artist, where he wakes up in the middle of the night with an idea, and runs into his studio, rubs paint all over his body, runs and jumps onto a huge canvas and then drinks absinthe and then glues newspaper to the canvas...etc. I understand the concept of illustration verses fine art, but I just don't agree.

After the museum we were off to Philly to find the perfect cheese steak. -Logan