The Delaware Art Museum presents " This Is War ! "

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Thursday, 24 April 2008 04:41

Howard Pyle (1853-1911) - The Fight on Lexington Common, April 19, 1775, c. 1898 - Oil on canvas, 23 1/4 x 35 1/4 in. from The Story of the Revolution, by Henry Cabot Lodge, in Scribner’s Magazine, January 1898 - Museum Purchase, 1912


Wilmington, DE - The Delaware Art Museum presents This Is War !, an exhibition of over 40 war-themed illustrations and posters on view May 10, 2008 – August 10, 2008, in the Brock J. Vinton Galleries.  Due to the depth of the Delaware Art Museum’s illustration collections through the 1940s, the Museum is able to provide a wide array of artists’ interpretations of war.  The images in this exhibition focus on the Revolutionary War, Civil War, First World War, and Second World War, and the works are divided into these four groups.

The types of images in This Is War! are varied:  There are illustrations of historical writings, illustrations from fictional pieces, works created as a form of visual reportage, and productions intended to exhort the citizenry to proper behavior during conflict.  Featured artists include Winslow Homer, Howard Pyle, Frank E. Schoonover, John Sloan, and N. C. Wyeth.

N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945) The Victorious Allies, 1919 Cover for The Red Cross Magazine, March 1919 Oil on canvas, 46 1/8 x 35 1/4 inches Gift of the Bank of DelawareThis Is War! provides a fascinating look at the history of American war into the mid-20th-century.  Howard Pyle’s The Fight on Lexington Common, April 19, 1775  depicts the opening salvo of the American Revolution.  Two of Winslow Homer’s most popular Civil War illustrations are included as wood engravings:  The Army of the Potomac: A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty and The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement.  And James Montgomery Flagg’s Uncle Sam declares I Want You for U.S. Army in the most famous poster to come out of World War I (it was later adapted for use in World War II as well).  This particular copy of the poster was actually displayed in Wilmington, directing viewers to the nearest recruiting station at 808 Market St., at the corner of 6th and King.

 Not surprisingly, the Delaware Art Museum’s largest collection of war illustration dates from the period of the First World War (after the death of Howard Pyle and the founding of this institution), when many of Pyle’s students were commercially active.  Consequently, the Museum has a full range of illustration types available from this period:  factual reporting images, fictional illustrations, and propaganda posters.

In Delaware, this exhibition is made possible, in part, by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

About the Museum
The Delaware Art Museum, located at 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19806, is open Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Sunday noon – 4:00 p.m.  Admission fees are charged as follows:  adults (18 – 59) $10, seniors (60+) $8, college students $5, and youth (7 – 17) $3, with children 6 and under entering for free.  Admission fees are waived every Sunday thanks to support from AstraZeneca.  For more information, call 302-571-9590 or 866-232-3714 (toll free), or visit the website at : www.delart.org.

Founded in 1912, the Delaware Art Museum holds a world-renowned collection that focuses on American art and illustration from the 19th century to the present as well as the British Pre-Raphaelite movement. The Museum offers the outdoor Copeland Sculpture Garden, the Helen Farr Sloan Library & Archives, studio art classes, the interactive Kids’ Corner learning area, the delART Café featuring free Wi-Fi access, and the Museum Store with distinctive books and gifts.


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