Celebrating the dual mission of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art, this exhibition examined the art of the region through the lens of land conservation.
The approximately 45 works were drawn from private and public collections, as well as the Museum's own holdings. The unique attributes of the landscape that attracted artists such as Jasper Cropsey, William T. Richards and members of the Wyeth family to the area are now largely protected through the efforts of the Brandywine Conservancy, which works to preserve and sustain the natural and cultural resources of the Brandywine watershed.
Spanning over a century, the exhibition presented artists' responses to the pastoral Brandywine valley while making fascinating connections to the Conservancy's activities that preserve thousands of acres of scenic and natural resources farmland and historic properties. Other Conservancy initiatives, including reforestation, promoting the use of native plants and the creation of trail networks all tie into the overarching goal of protecting the water quality of the Brandywine. Together, the selected works of art conveyed a strong sense of the region's distinctive identity and reflected the Brandywine River Museum of Art's rich holdings in landscape paintings. Lure of the Brandywine underscored the innate link between artists' appreciation of the Brandywine region's natural beauty and the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art's commitment to ensuring that legacy for generations to come.
This exhibition is made possible by PECO. Additional support is provided by Victory Brewing Company.
