"From Four Studios: First State Modernism"
New Exhibit at the Delaware Visitor Center and Galleries in Dover from September 11, 2007January 1, 2008
 |
 |
 |
Dover, Delaware - August 2, 2007 The effects of American Modernism on four seminal figures in early 20th century painting in Delaware - Orville Peets (1881-1968), Ethel Canby Peets (1886-1978), Howard Schroeder (1910-1995), and Jack Lewis (b. 1912)-will be explored in the exhibit, "From Four Studios: First State Modernism" which will be on display at the Delaware Visitor Center and Galleries, 406 Federal St. in Dover, Delaware from September 11, 2007-January 1, 2008.
As part of its mission to preserve the state's unique historical heritage, the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA) maintains a significant collection of historical materials and property owned by the state of Delaware including a sizable cache of paintings by Orville Peets, Ethel Canby Peets, Schroeder, and Lewis. In an effort to fully showcase and interpret these important paintings, HCA has entered into an unprecedented collaborative arrangement with the curatorial staff of the Biggs Museum of American Art who will utilize their specialized art-historical training to create an exhibit that presents the work of these four artists within the context of their encounters with, and responses to, European Modernist trends including Cubism, Social Realism, and Abstraction that were taking place in the art centers of New York and Paris during the first half of the 20th century. The exhibit will position Delaware as a direct regional recipient of this groundbreaking influence.
Biographical Information on the artists:
With the introduction of European Modernism in the now infamous 1913 Armory Show in New York City, American artists came face-to-face with the work of iconic experimental European, especially French, artists like Cezanne, Van Gogh, Degas, and Du Champ Villon. In that same year, Orville Peets met his future wife, Ethel Canby, while studying art in Paris. After spending many years painting throughout Europe and within artist colonies in New York, the couple took up residence in southern Delaware immersing themselves in every major artist organization and art teaching institution the state had to offer.
Howard Schroeder was born in New York City a few years before the Armory Show and in the middle of the cauldron that was the emerging American Modernist movement. He studied art in New Jersey and New York until being drafted into the United States Army in 1942. During World War II, Schroeder was stationed in Lewes, Delaware where he remained for the next fifty years working as an experimental and widely admired painter of local scenes.
Jack Lewis was born in Baltimore in 1912. By the time he graduated from art school, the Great Depression was ravaging artists' careers. In response, Lewis joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and was stationed in Delaware. From this initial contact, Lewis began a life-long love affair with Delaware that would lead him to take up permanent residence in the state in the 1950s. He is best remembered locally as a writer and illustrator of famous books on Delaware and Chesapeake Bay cultures as well as for the many murals he painted throughout the state. Lewis now lives in Maine where he continues to paint.
Exhibit dates: September 11, 2007-January 1, 2008
Location: Delaware Visitor Center and Galleries, 406 Federal St., Dover, Delaware 19901
Telephone: (302) 739-4266
Hours of operation: Monday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Admission: Free and open to the public. Group tour reservations are required.
Parking:Free, but limited, parking is available in the Visitor Center parking lot. Free street parking is also available.
The Delaware Visitor Center and Galleries is one of eight museums administered by the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA), an agency of the State of Delaware working in partnership with the First State Heritage Park at Dover. HCA enhances Delaware's quality of life by preserving the state's unique historical heritage, fostering community stability and economic vitality, and providing educational programs and assistance to the general public on Delaware history and heritage. In addition to its museums, HCA operates two conference centers, manages over thirty historic properties, and serves as the state's historic preservation office. Funding for HCA's programs and services is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly, revenue from HCA's History Stores, and grants from the National Park Service, a federal agency.
The Biggs Museum of American Art, located in historic Dover, Delaware, devotes fourteen galleries to a collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts assembled primarily by the museum's founder, Delawarean, Sewell C. Biggs. Featured are works from the mid-18th through the twentieth centuries by Delaware and Delaware Valley artists. Temporary exhibitions complement the permanent installation.
