Bucolic Innocence

In Love With the Land:  Idylic scenes capture the essence of a simpler life in Up the River, an exhibit of Bucks County Impressionists at The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

By: Ilene Dube

Pastoral views along the Delaware River are captured in "Burning Brush" by John Well James.

   Walking the towpath between the Delaware River and the Delaware & Raritan Canal on the Bucks County side, it is easy to comprehend the Pennsylvania Impressionists’ attraction to the land. The lush landscapes integrate the beauty of man-made structures — bridges, farm houses, covered bridges, sculpted fields — with the elegance of nature’s own design.
   Those intimate with these pastoral scenes will experience a déjà vu looking at Up the River, an exhibit of the Pennsylvania Impressionists on view at The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Lawrenceville through Nov. 25. The rich palettes and techniques used by these painters enrich the eye for a deeper connection to the Delaware Valley.
   "Bucks County’s natural beauty — its picturesque pastures, streams, quarries, farmhouses and Colonial villages — were, along with the mighty Delaware, the main source of inspiration for the region’s artists," writes Brian Peterson, senior curator at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa., in an essay in the exhibition catalog. "There were other reasons creative people congregated there: Many appreciated the convenient location, close to New York and Philadelphia. Some followed in the footsteps of respected teachers and friends. Others were drawn to the atmosphere of tolerance that is rooted in the county’s Quaker tradition."
   Writing in American Art Review, Jim Alterman, owner of Jim’s Antiques Fine Art Gallery in Lambertville and a significant lender to the exhibit, says, "Word traveled fast of the magnificent, unspoiled landscape along the banks of the Delaware, separating Pennsylvania from New Jersey. This terrain provided a wealth of subjects to be interpreted on canvas by artists of all techniques and styles."

"Old Mill — Neshaminy Creek" (1947) by George W. Sotter.

   The river, the New Hope/Lambertville bridge and Main Street in New Hope were prime real estate for the canvases of so many of these artists, notes Mr. Alterman.
   Pennsylvania’s school of impressionism had its roots in France in the 1860s, when painters Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir shocked the world with bright colors and sketchy, spontaneous brush work that seemed crude and unfinished to the conventional eye, says Mr. Peterson. But as French Impression caught on, American painters journeyed to France to learn the style.
   Common to both the American and European schools was the desire to work "en plein air," to be outside, in contact with the subject matter.
   Three significant painters in the New Hope colony were William Lathrop, Edward Redfield and Daniel Garber.
   "When I first began to work, most artists used models in studios," wrote Edward Redfield. "What I wanted to do was to go outdoors and capture the look of the scene, whether it was a brook or a bridge, as it looked on a certain day. So I trained myself to set down what I saw in one day, sometimes eight hours or more. I never painted over a canvas again. I think it ruins them. Either you’ve got it the first time or you haven’t."
   Redfield passionately believed the essential vitality of a place could be captured only by an artist whose senses were actively engaged, who could see, hear, smell, feel and even taste what they put on their canvases, writes Mr. Peterson.

"A Perkiomen Mill" (1930) by Walter E. Baum.

   Redfield is a favorite of Kate Somers, curator of The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb. "There is something vigorous and vital about his painting. I love the stories of how he painted knee-deep in snow with his canvas strapped to a tree so he could feel the elements. He did a lot of snow scenes. I’m partial to the feeling he captured of a cold winter day."
   This exhibit is unusual for The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb in that none of the artists are living, yet the common thread is regional artists, Ms. Somers says.
   William Lathrop was regarded as the "Father of the New Hope School." With his English wife, Annie, he converted an old grist mill to a social gathering spot. Artists and their families came for Mrs. Lathrop’s legendary afternoon teas and Mr. Lathrop’s art classes. The tradition continued for 20 or so years. In 1929, a committee of prominent local artists purchased the mill and formed the Phillips Mill Art Association that, to this day, holds annual exhibitions.
   Daniel Garber was a major artist with a national reputation and a highly respected teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He traveled throughout Europe for two years on a Cresson scholarship, and was undoubtedly influenced by the European artists, especially Georges Seurat, whose neoimpressionistic "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" appears to be an inspiration for Garber’s painting, "Stockton" (1920). Women in long white dresses with white parasols and hats play croquet in the foreground; behind them is the luminous river and a cluster of houses in a village with a single white steeple.

"Stockton" (1920) by Daniel Garber.

   "I am a very happy man! I am a simple man," wrote Garber. "I am enthusiastic about my painting; I have few theories about it. In art, as in other things, you work out your problems as you go along, always trying to make your work better; and as your work grows, you grow immensely. I’ve had a wonderful life."
   Although it wasn’t planned, the exhibit has a patriotic tone. "Of all the regional schools of impressionism, the Bucks County school was the most ‘American,’ " says Ms. Somers. "They were the most vigorous and independent, following their own drummer. Although they were aware of French Impressionism, they in no way wanted to copy it. They were uniquely American."

"Carversville Barber Shop" (1930) by Charles W. Hargens Jr.

   Some of the paintings look as if they belong in a calendar or on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post. "Carversville Barber Shop" (1930) by Charles W. Hargens Jr. depicts a faithful horse covered in a red blanket waiting in a blizzard for passengers to fill an empty wagon in front of a shop with the red-, white- and blue-striped pole.
   In Herbert Pullinger’s "The Covered Bridge, Point Pleasant" (1917) a bright red house with gingerbread trim, utility poles and, of course, the covered bridge, nestled into trees and shrubs, portrays the feeling of innocence in the American landscape, as does "Old Ferry Road" (1925) by Clarence R. Johnson, with its winding purple lane that leads the viewer past a barn and farm houses in a field of orange foliage, then to a river and beyond.
   These paintings don’t shout out, but sing softly of beauty, more like Fujicolor than the colors of Kodak.
   The muted palette is present in "Old Center Bridge Hotel" (1928) by Kenneth R. Nunamaker. It is like a scene you would see when waking, through eyes that are not yet ready to take in harsh realities: a hazy blur of a wet road, covered with autumn’s droppings, and trees that weep over white stone buildings.

"Old Center Bridge Hotel" (1928) by Kenneth R. Nunamaker.

   The exhibit very much conveys a sense of nostalgia. "There is a bucolic innocence in so many of these paintings," says Ms. Somers, who grew up in New Hope. "A few people in their 70s and 80s have remarked about this sense of nostalgia. Even I feel that way when I’m in the area. It’s still very beautiful, and you can still enjoy the landscape, river and meandering roads, though it is different today."
   "The Fair" (1958) by Harry Leith-Ross harks back to simpler times, as a father and two children approach a Ferris wheel from the parking lot against a dark green night sky, speckled with glowing carnival lights and a crescent moon. These people are walking from darkness into a world of wonderment and light. "There is a real sense of Americana there," Ms. Somers says.
   In George Sotter’s "Old Mill — Neshaminy Creek" (1947), a mystically illuminated stone mill reflects jewel-like in the river at twilight, stars twinkle above and windows glow in nearby houses. In the foreground, birch trees stripped bare of their leaves emerge from a pristine snow and lean into the river. This painting, by an artist who is known primarily for his stained glass designs in cathedrals across the country, captures the moment when day transforms into winter night, when the light dims outside and life begins indoors.
Up the River: The Pennsylvania Impressionists and Modernists is on view
at The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Route 206, Lawrenceville, through Nov.
25. Gallery hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., weekends and holidays 1-5 p.m.
Free admission. For information, call (609) 252-6275. On the Web: www.bms.com