Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:U.S Route 1
Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Tel:
(610) 388-2700
The Brandywine River Museum at Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, offers a splendid time as you take in captivating American art and a beautiful day in the gardens. Since 1971 the museum's collection has grown to over 3,000 works of art by hundreds of artists, as well as thousands of objects. The museum has a plethora of constantly changing exhibits as well as fabulous galleries showcasing still lifes, American illustrations, Wyeth art and Landscape paintings.
The galleries include wonderful works by early 20th century illustration giants such as Edwin Austin Abbey, Winslow Homer and Howard Chandler, as well as late 20th century cartoonists such as Al Hirschfeld, Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), and Charles Schulz, just to name a few.
Also on display at the Brandywine River Museum are still life & genre paintings by William Michael Harnett (considered the leader in this field), John Peto and George Cope. Visitors will adore the gentleman's club style of these masculine pieces dedicated mainly to hunting, fishing, mugs and pipes.
Special exhibits include Jerry Pinkney's Aesop's Fables whose works will surely remind you of "The Tortoise and the Hair" or "The Ugly Duckling", and Elihu Vedder's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the original pieces from his century old works.
The museum's gardens are filled with wildflowers and share a living mission with the museum in preserving American artistic, natural and historical resources. The gardens are set akin to their own natural habitat, woodland, wetland, flood plan, or meadow. A remarkable feature of the garden is a rainwater detention basin between the two parking areas providing a wetland for several species, and serves as a model for how to control road pollution.
The Brandywine River Museum Restaurant offers soups, sandwiches, wines and micro-brewed beers, all in a setting overlooking the Brandywine River. The Museum Shop sells art reproductions, posters, gift items and books related to the museum's exhibitions and collections.
To get to Brandywine River Museum, take I-95 south to Route 322W and follow that to US Route 1. Head south to Chadds Ford and look for the museum just past Creek Road on your left.