How New Hope, Pennsylvania and Lambertville, New Jersey Emerged As Art Destinations
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Drexel Libraries E-Repository and Archives How New Hope, Pennsylvania and Lambertville, New Jersey Emerged as Art Destinations Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Masters of Science in Arts Administration Drexel University By Colleen Pritchard, B.A. ********* Drexel University 2012 Approved by Jean E. Brody D.F.A. Advisor Graduate Program in Arts Administration Copyright by Colleen Pritchard 2012 ii Abstract Many artists and area residents believe that the New Hope Impressionists moved into the area due to the beauty of the Delaware River Valley and a desire to live and create in such an environment. Since many artists prefer to work in groups the artists continued to attract other artists creating a domino effect. This paper examines the question of how New Hope, Pennsylvania, and Lambertville, New Jersey, emerged as an arts destination by studying the history of the arts and artists who lived and worked in the area. After several interviews with area artists and gallery owners, it was evident that the primary reasons were that the artists were poor and the real estate in the area was relatively cheap and in close proximity to New York City and Philadelphia. Also large spaces for studios were available because the area had once been industrial. As a result, the area gentrified because of the artists moving here and creating a desirable community. Ultimately, the authentic artists and true identity of New Hope and Lambertville have been lost due to gentrification. iii Dedicated To my husband Bob, who brought me to live on the banks of the Delaware River and my daughter, Alexis Pritchard, for all of their support and understanding during my extensive pursuit of my education. I hope you both have enjoyed learning about the artists who lived and thrived, as we do, in this beautiful countryside which we are lucky to call our home. iv Acknowledgements Thanks to Susan Rosman who gave me my leads in the beginning. The New Hope Library for permitting me to take home reference books and forgiving some of my overdue fines. Thanks to Jim Hamilton for taking the time to sit and talk to me about his recollection of New Hope and Lambertville over the years and Illia Barger who made me see McDonalds with cynicism. v Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedicated ........................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Foreword ............................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter One: The History of the New Hope, Pennsylvania & Lambertville, New Jersey . 4 Chapter Two: The New Hope Impressionists ..................................................................... 9 Chapter Three: The Writers .............................................................................................. 28 Chapter Four: The Bucks County Playhouse .................................................................... 37 Chapter Five: The Arts and Crafts Movement .................................................................. 42 Chapter Six: The James A. Michener Art Museum .......................................................... 47 Chapter Seven: The Interviews ......................................................................................... 49 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 53 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 56 vi List of Figures Figure 1-New Hope and Lambertville aerial view Figure 2-Edward Hicks Peaceable Kingdom Figure 3-The Burning of Centerbridge by Edward Redfield Figure 4- Tanis by Daniel Garber Figure 5- Studio Wall by Daniel Garber Figure 6- plaque at Cutaloosa with Garber quote Figure 7- The cottage at Cutalossa with waterwheel Figure 8- Fern Coopedge The Road to Lumberville Figure 9- Joseph Pickett Manchester Valley Figure 10- Ben Solowey Rae Figure 11- Pearl S. Buck photo Figure 12- James A. Michener and wife photo Figure 13- Al Hirchfeild Opening night at the Bucks County Playhouse Figure 14-Henry Mercer Moravian Tile Works Figure 15- George Nakashima table and chairs in the Nakashima Reading Room at the Michener Museum Figure 16- James A. Michener Art Museum, old prison entrance, Doylestown, Pennsylvania Figure 17- Jim Hamilton, artist, restaurateur, owner of Hamilton’s Grill Room, Lambertville, New Jersey Figure 18- Illia Barger, artist, river resident, creator and owner of Pantaluna in Frenchtown, New Jersey vii Foreword How did New Hope, Pennsylvania and Lambertville, New Jersey, emerge as art destinations and where do they stand on those terms today? I live just north of the two river towns of New Hope, Pennsylvania, and Lambertville, New Jersey on the banks of the Delaware River. Over the years, I have become intrigued not only by the extreme beauty of the area, but by the strong art and artists’ presence in the region. I started to notice common themes, such as use of the old mills that brought these towns into existence, as art venues. The Phillips Mill, just north of New Hope, is host each fall to an internationally recognized art exhibition. The Prallsville Mill in Stockton, New Jersey, hosts art shows and concerts throughout the year. The Bucks County Playhouse, located in the former New Hope Mill, is considered a world renowned small theater. As I became more familiar with the area, I realized that it had been a thriving art colony at the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth century. I finally found my way a few miles west to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, at the James A. Michener Art Museum. Here I saw The New Hope School of Pennsylvania Impressionists for the first time. I had known that they lived and painted in the region, but what I did not know was that their main subject source was the area in which they lived, with a focus on the Delaware River. I became increasingly curious about the artists and their lives on the banks of the same river on which I choose to live. I began to wonder how and why this movement had started and continued to form over time. I also wondered where New Hope and Lambertville stood today as art and artist destinations. 1 Introduction New Hope and Lambertville have long been established as artist colonies and art destinations. Several books have been written on the artists who lived and thrived in the area, but few of them explain how the artists came to be here. Most people assume that the artists moved to the area due to the beauty of the Delaware River Valley, and while that may be partly true, there were more factors involved. Some of the literature, such as New Hope for American Art by a prominent New Hope Impressionist collector, Jim Alterman, specifically states that the artists moved to the area because, “This quaint little town along the Delaware River is situated less than forty miles from Philadelphia and seventy miles from Manhattan. Artists find New Hope appealing, as picturesque surroundings provide endless subjects to paint.” Much of the literature stated similar reasons for the settling of the art colony. It was not until I found The Genius Belt written by James A. Michener and others that the history of the area was more accurately revealed. While Michener’s book mentions that some of the famous artists came from Manhattan and bought up old dilapidated Buck’s County farm properties, he does not point to them being bought because the artists themselves were poor. Michener focuses on already famous and well off individuals buying the properties after the art colony was already established and even dying off. Thus I sought out individuals who either could remember the later days of the art colony or who had family members who would have remembered and had passed on stories. Unfortunately, most of the individuals I spoke to just seemed to repeat what the books had stated. It was as if a nice story about the art colony had been told and it became true over the years as it was retold. It was the interviews with two individuals who told me in different ways that the reason the artists moved here was due to inexpensive properties, many with large spaces for studios and cheap taxes at the time. 2 This was not the answer that I had expected and not as romantic as the reason being the beauty of the Delaware Valley, but it is the reason that New Hope, Pennsylvania and Lambertville, New Jersey emerged as an art destination. 3 Chapter One: The History of the New Hope, Pennsylvania & Lambertville, New Jersey Geographically, New Hope and Lambertville are divided by and exist because of The Delaware River. Both sides of the river were well known to the first people