Note: This exhibit is CLOSED.  For reference only.

     The Delaware History Museum will present the art exhibition Recognizing Delaware: Artistic Assets from the Wilmington Trust Collection from April 28 through September 1, 2001.  N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Stanley Arthurs, Frank Schoonover and Edward Loper are among the artists whose works were selected from Wilmington Trust’s collection of more than 2,500 paintings acquired over nearly 100 years.  These well-known artists, as well as many “yet to be recognized” artists, are combined in the exhibition of 63 paintings that represent the entire Delaware region from Bethany Beach to the Brandywine Valley.  The exhibition features works that define the unique relationships each artist established with the state of Delaware.

(For a preview of seven of these paintings, just click the picture above)

    “Wilmington Trust is proud to share highlights of our robust collection with the community” said Robert V. A. Harra Jr., President.  “We were honored when the Historical Society of Delaware approached us with the idea to celebrate 100 years of Delaware’s cultural history using works from our collection exclusively.  We have important pieces that reflect our century-strong relationship with Delaware and the surrounding arts community.  We are very proud of our collection and are delighted to share it.”

   “It was not easy to pick just 63 paintings from the 2,500 owned by Wilmington Trust,” said Barbara E. Benson, Executive Director of the Historical Society of Delaware.  “What visitors will see is just the tip of a great iceberg, but it promises each of those visitors a chance to see the richness of Delaware’s artistic community and the unique way that they see the world around them.  We are delighted to have been able to work with Wilmington Trust to bring a sampling of their outstanding collection of Delaware art to the public.”

   From its beginning in 1903, Wilmington Trust has collected the work of local artists.  In the early years it often chose paintings done by artists of the Brandywine School – the works of young men who came to Delaware to study under the great master Howard Pyle.  Among the first paintings purchased by Wilmington Trust in 1905 was The C&O Canal (Harper's Ferry), by Pyle student Stanley Arthurs, a colorful nostalgic scene of a barge on the C & O Canal at Harper’s Ferry. 

   Other early paintings by Pyle students include the atmospheric Young Abe Lincoln on the Mississippi, painted by Frank Schoonover in 1928 and the dramatic light-and-shadow Pennsylvania Barn Near Chadds Ford, painted by N.C. Wyeth in 1942.  Other artists whose works entered the Wilmington Trust collection in its first half-century include The Andress House, an early piece by Andrew Wyeth and John McCoy’s 1946 view of Wilmington’s Van Buren Street Bridge. 

   As Wilmington Trust expanded its business post-World War II, it also expanded its collection.  Increasingly, the company purchased Delaware scenes painted by Delaware artists and ventured beyond the Brandywine School into more contemporary schools like The Studio Group.  Names like Eugenia Rhoads, Bayard Berndt, Edward Loper, Jack Lewis, Ethel Penniwell Brown Leach, Carolyn Anderson, and James McGlynn highlight a list of respected artists who continue to gain recognition.  Other artists may be less well known, but the scenes they have painted reveal Delaware’s landscape and historic environment.

Recognizing Delaware: 
Artistic Assets from the Wilmington Trust Collection 
will be on display at the Delaware History Museum 
located at 504 Market Street in Wilmington 
from April 28 through September 1.  

About Wilmington Trust
Wilmington Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wilmington Trust Corporation (NYSE: WL), was founded in 1903.  Wilmington Trust provides wealth management, corporate trust, and commercial banking services to clients throughout the United States and in more than 50 other countries online and from offices in California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, London, the Cayman Islands and the Channel Islands.