Brandywine School

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About Brandywine School

Description of Brandywine School
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Brandywine School Artists - 24
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Brandywine School
The Brandywine School refers to artists who studied under the illustrator Howard Pyle; particularly in his summer classes in Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania, near the Brandywine River.

In the late nineteenth century Pyle made his name providing illustrations for magazines and children’s books; he excelled at depicting scenes of adventure and romance. In the mid-1890’s he began teaching, first establishing the nation’s first illustration program at the Drexel Institute, then organizing summer classes at Chadd’s Ford ... (view more)

Brandywine School
The Brandywine School refers to artists who studied under the illustrator Howard Pyle; particularly in his summer classes in Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania, near the Brandywine River.

In the late nineteenth century Pyle made his name providing illustrations for magazines and children’s books; he excelled at depicting scenes of adventure and romance. In the mid-1890’s he began teaching, first establishing the nation’s first illustration program at the Drexel Institute, then organizing summer classes at Chadd’s Ford and later founding his own Howard Pyle School of Art. Over the course of his career as a teacher he produced a staggering number of successful students. Uncharacteristically for the era, women were welcomed and encouraged to attend Pyle’s classes, which accounts for the strong female presence in the Brandywine School’s roster.

The work of Brandywine artists tends to maintain the storybook quality of their mentor’s illustrations; the scenes almost always center on human figures and often convey a sense that they are part of a narrative. Though clearly working in the same style, the various artists of the Brandywine school tended to develop their talents in very specific genres, cultivating individual signatures. For instance Frank Schoonover produced almost exclusively scenes of the American frontier, while Jessie Wilcox Smith heavily favored illustrations of children at play. Maxfield Parrish developed such a distinctive palette that one sometimes hears reference to “Parrish Blue”, a particular shade of blue used in nearly all his works.
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