March 8th, 2011 was a beautiful day to spend looking at outstanding paintings from around the United States and Europe. After leaving Ephrata High School and traveling to Merion, PA to view the collection of Dr. Albert Barnes. Dr. Barnes made a fortune with the antiseptic that he developed called Argyrol in the early 20th Century. He invested a great deal of time in spending his fortune collecting works of art by now famous artists such as Renior, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Seurat and numerous others of great note. Our students were divided in groups of ten so that each group had a docent (Latin for teacher). They explained the unique way that Dr. Barnes created his groupings of paintings within the building that he had specifically designed for his collection. It wasn’t just a history lesson, but stories about the artists, their works and how Dr. Barnes acquired them. It was a most fascinating tour and our docents were extremely knowledgeable. Considering that the Barnes collection will be relocating to the turnpike in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art some time in 2012 and closing its doors at the present location this June, our trip might be the last chance that our students will have to see the Barnes collection at the original facility.
After a pleasant walk from the Barnes to some of the eateries that were close by we boarded our Elite motor coach for our second destination, the Brandywine River Museum and home for the works of the Wyeth family including father N.C., which stands for Newells Converse (not the sneakers), his son Andrew and grandson Jamie. N.C. is well known for his illustrations of such literary works as Last of the Mohicans, Kidnapped and Treasure Island. The River Museum sits along the Brandywine River in an old converted gristmill that was built in 1864. Besides being the primary location of the Wyeth family the museum houses works by other notable American artists and illustrators, including Howard Pyle who was N.C.’s teacher and well known illustrator in his own right. Although our tour was only to last an hour, each of our docents went well beyond their required time limit. Our students were very receptive, inquisitive and handled themselves with dignity and respect.