Brandywine Museum of Art to Present "In Shadows' Embrace: Prints by Peter Paone"

Chadds Ford, PA, May 16, 2024 — This spring the Brandywine Museum of Art will present In Shadows’ Embrace: Prints by Peter Paone, featuring more than 20 prints by this acclaimed Philadelphia artist and teacher. Over his seven-decade career, Paone has mastered the mediums of painting, drawing and printmaking. His extraordinary ability to infuse the figurative tradition with his fantastical imagination is evident throughout his oeuvre. On view at Brandywine from May 25–October 13, 2024, In Shadows’ Embrace highlights a major recent gift by Paone to the Museum of 52 of his etchings, the majority of which were created in the 1960s. Together, these offer an overview of both Paone’s early career and his printmaking practice.

Known today largely as a painter, Paone had early success in printmaking (specifically etching), and it is that medium he feels was critical to his artistic development. Paone learned printmaking at John Bartram High School and the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) in the 1950s. Throughout the following decade he gained recognition for his etchings and devoted himself almost entirely to printmaking. Major inspiration for Paone was the work of two European artists, Francisco Goya working in the eighteenth century, and Käthe Kollwitz working early in the twentieth century. Like those artists before him, Paone created images that reflect the plight of the human condition—in his case, in the context of America in the 1960s.

A centerpiece of the exhibition is Paone’s portfolio entitled The Ten Commandments of Ambrose Bierce (1963), which will be shown in full for only the third time, the last being at the Musèe d’Art Moderne, Paris, in 1967. In this tour de force of printmaking, Paone gives visual form to writer and poet Ambrose Bierce’s Decalogue (1906), a biting satire of contemporary society based on biblical principles from the Book of Exodus. The fourth commandment, for example, becomes “Work not on Sabbath days at all, / But go to see the teams play ball,” and the seventh becomes “Kiss not thy neighbor’s wife, unless / Thine own thy neighbor doth caress.” Inspired by Bierce’s irreverent writing, Paone created otherworldly images, at times witty, at times demonic, that bring these “commandments” to life. The suite of prints sets up a fascinating dialogue between Paone and Bierce across decades and across disciplines. Working with printer Charles Hunsberger, whose workshop was in Philadelphia, Paone combined etching with aquatint for the series, which created a rich variety of tones that amplify the dark visionary quality of his imagery.

Subjects in 10 other etchings in the exhibition include historical figures such as Queen Elizabeth I, quasi-human mythical figures, and floral still-lifes. All reflect Paone’s remarkable technical skills and his mastery at crafting enigmatic narratives, wherein even a vase of flowers is transformed into a meditation on death.

“Peter Paone is an artist who creates compelling, haunting images—he brings a kind of fever dream to the tradition of figurative art,” says Thomas Padon, the James H. Duff Director of the Brandywine Museum of Art. “In this dazzling group of prints, one sees not only Paone’s fervid imagination but also his technical prowess in printmaking. This donation marks a significant addition to our collection of graphic work by Philadelphia-based artists, and I am profoundly grateful to him for his generosity.”

The artist was also the subject of the exhibition Reality Reassembled: The Halloween Paintings of Peter Paone in 2019 at the Brandywine Museum of Art. Since then, the Museum has acquired two of his paintings, including a remarkable self-portrait from 2012, and a drawing.

The guest curator of the exhibition is Audrey Lewis, formerly associate curator of the Brandywine Museum of Art, where she organized such landmark exhibitions as Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect and Exalted Nature: The Real and Fantastic World of Charles E. Burchfield. Lewis also curated Reality Reassembled.

About the Brandywine Museum of Art:

The Brandywine Museum of Art features an outstanding collection of American art housed in a 19th-century Mill building with a dramatic steel and glass addition overlooking the banks of the Brandywine River. The Museum is located on Route 1 in Chadds Ford, PA. Current admission rates and hours of operation can be found at www.brandywine.org/hours. Guided tours of the Andrew Wyeth Studio, N. C. Wyeth House & Studio, and the Kuerner Farm—all National Historic Landmarks—are available seasonally (for an additional fee); advance reservations are recommended. For more information, call 610.388.2700 or visit brandywine.org/museum. The Museum is one of the two programs of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.

About the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art:

The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art preserves and promotes the natural and cultural connections between the area’s beautiful landscape, historic sites, and important artists. The Conservancy protects the lands and waters throughout the Brandywine Valley and other priority conservation areas, developing sustainable approaches to emerging needs and assuring preservation of majestic open spaces and protection of natural resources for generations to come. The Museum of Art presents and collects historic and contemporary works of American art, engaging and exciting visitors of all ages through an array of exhibitions and programs. The Brandywine unites the inspiring experiences of art and nature, enhancing the quality of life in its community and among its diverse audiences.