Artist:
Thomas Birch
(American, 1779 - 1851)
On the Schuylkill River
Medium: Oil on panel
Date: ca. 1820
Dimensions:
21 5/8 × 32 1/2 in. (54.9 × 82.6 cm)
Accession number: 2021.12
Label Copy:
English-born Thomas Birch was an important Philadelphia landscape painter of the early nineteenth century. Although celebrated for his marine and naval battle images, Birch also specialized in landscapes more generally. He exhibited hundreds of paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and other annuals over the course of his career, the titles of which reveal that he painted far more river scenes and landscape scenes than marines.
Emigrating from England with his artist father in 1794, the Birch family made their home in Philadelphia, where the art scene was dominated by the Peale family of artists. When Thomas ventured out on his own, he took up portrait and miniature painting. His landscapes can be seen as a foil to the works of Hudson River School artists, appearing as pastoral scenery rather than wild and strikingly dramatic. Not only was Birch influential among his contemporaries, but he also an influenced the next generation of Philadelphia painters including William Trost Richards.
English-born Thomas Birch was an important Philadelphia landscape painter of the early nineteenth century. Although celebrated for his marine and naval battle images, Birch also specialized in landscapes more generally. He exhibited hundreds of paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and other annuals over the course of his career, the titles of which reveal that he painted far more river scenes and landscape scenes than marines.
Emigrating from England with his artist father in 1794, the Birch family made their home in Philadelphia, where the art scene was dominated by the Peale family of artists. When Thomas ventured out on his own, he took up portrait and miniature painting. His landscapes can be seen as a foil to the works of Hudson River School artists, appearing as pastoral scenery rather than wild and strikingly dramatic. Not only was Birch influential among his contemporaries, but he also an influenced the next generation of Philadelphia painters including William Trost Richards.
Curatorial RemarksThomas Birch is an important Philadelphia landscape painter of the early nineteenth century.
Although celebrated for his marine and naval battle images, Birch also specialized in landscapes more generally. He exhibited hundreds of paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and other annuals over the course of his career, the titles of which reveal that he painted far more river scenes and landscape scenes than marines. As William H. Gerdts points out in an essay on this painting: “What is more significant, and an aspect of American art history that has long been overlooked, is the role Philadelphia, and its artists such as Birch, played in the development of American landscape painting.” Recently this oversight has been addressed in PAFA’s exhibition From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic curated by Anna O. Marley.
Emigrating from England with his artist father in 1794, the Birch family made their home in Philadelphia, where the art scene was dominated by the Peale family of artists. When Thomas ventured out on his own, he took up portrait and miniature painting. Gerdts remarks, “Birch was one of the earliest American painters to move from the “safe” field of portraiture to the more speculative one of scene painting.” His landscapes can be seen as a foil to the works of Hudson River School artists, appearing as pastoral scenery rather than wild and strikingly dramatic. Thomas Cole, a founder of the Hudson River style only began painting landscapes after seeing the work of Philadelphia painters Thomas Doughty and Birch. Not only was Birch influential among his contemporaries, but he was also an influence on the next generation of Philadelphia painters including William Trost Richards.
The work is unsigned, as many by Birch are, but has been known as a Birch since the 1960s when it first appeared at Kennedy Galleries.
Although celebrated for his marine and naval battle images, Birch also specialized in landscapes more generally. He exhibited hundreds of paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and other annuals over the course of his career, the titles of which reveal that he painted far more river scenes and landscape scenes than marines. As William H. Gerdts points out in an essay on this painting: “What is more significant, and an aspect of American art history that has long been overlooked, is the role Philadelphia, and its artists such as Birch, played in the development of American landscape painting.” Recently this oversight has been addressed in PAFA’s exhibition From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic curated by Anna O. Marley.
Emigrating from England with his artist father in 1794, the Birch family made their home in Philadelphia, where the art scene was dominated by the Peale family of artists. When Thomas ventured out on his own, he took up portrait and miniature painting. Gerdts remarks, “Birch was one of the earliest American painters to move from the “safe” field of portraiture to the more speculative one of scene painting.” His landscapes can be seen as a foil to the works of Hudson River School artists, appearing as pastoral scenery rather than wild and strikingly dramatic. Thomas Cole, a founder of the Hudson River style only began painting landscapes after seeing the work of Philadelphia painters Thomas Doughty and Birch. Not only was Birch influential among his contemporaries, but he was also an influence on the next generation of Philadelphia painters including William Trost Richards.
The work is unsigned, as many by Birch are, but has been known as a Birch since the 1960s when it first appeared at Kennedy Galleries.
On view