Main Building
This installation celebrates the landscapes of the Pennsylvania Impressionists who worked closely together in New Hope at the beginning of the twentieth century. Also known as the New Hope School, these artists were rooted in the tradition of American Realism and influenced by the popularity of French Impressionism. Most of the Pennsylvania Impressionists met while attending the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Later, many moved to New Hope, north of Philadelphia in Bucks County, where they found the natural beauty of the Delaware River and its surrounding hills ideal subjects for a new, loose style of painting. These artists painted outdoors directly from nature, even during severe weather conditions. Edward Redfield, a leading New Hope artist who especially liked winter scenes, often strapped his canvases to trees during windy days. Although the Pennsylvania Impressionists also painted figures and interiors, it is their fresh interpretations of landscapes for which they are best known and that continue to inspire Bucks County artists today.