Selected by Dr. William I. Homer, former chairperson of the Department of Art History, the 93 works included in this exhibition represent a sampling from 38 private collections in Delaware and southern Pennsylvania. Paintings by such well known artists as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, John Constable, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins and Henri Matisse were exhibited. Offering a glimpse of rarely shown works, this exhibition encompassed a broad range of media and also included modern American masters such as Milton Avery, Marsden Hartley, Fairfield Porter, Arthur Dove, and Louise Nevelson. Several paintings and drawings by well known Brandywine Valley artists N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Frank Schoonover and Stanley Arthurs were also featured. This exhibition was organized through the collaborative efforts of the University Gallery, the Department of Art History, and the regional collectors, and reflected the cultural vitality and diversity which enriches the University of Delaware's environs.

The exhibition and catalogue were funded by grants from the Crestlea Foundation, Delaware State Arts Council/Division of the Arts, John Sloan Memorial Foundation, Starrett Foundation, and the Welfare Foundation. Additional support was provided by the University of Delaware’s Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events and the Office of the President.

The individual interests of the various lenders are reflected in the paintings, sculpture, prints and drawings that were selected for Brandywine Valley to the Bay: Art from Private Collections.

Whether from the Far East, medieval Europe, the Baroque era, or from modern France, England, and America, the works were of unusually high quality. The earliest dated works included two examples of Gandharan temple sculpture from the second to fourth century AD. These were complemented by a thirteenth to fourteenth century Japanese Buddha made of lacquered wood. Early European works included several late medieval representations of religious figures in painted wood and stone from Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Other important works shown were: a self-portrait etching by Rembrandt Van Rijn, a small oil on panel by Peter Paul Rubens and a sixteenth-century Limoges enamel mirror. John Constable’s landscape Branch Hill Road--Hampstead Heath, a late oil portrait of a girl by Pierre-August Renoir, a lithograph by Toulouse Lautrec, an impressionist landscape by Alfred Sisley and the portrait Miranda by Pre-Raphaelite artist Frederick Sandys are examples of nineteenth-century European pieces that were on view. Twentieth-century European masters included Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Joan Miro, and Raoul Dufy, who were all represented by works on paper.

Reflecting the national standing of the University of Delaware’s Art History Department in the field of American art, a strong group of celebrated American artists were represented in the exhibition. Highlights included a portrait of William Barksdale by Thomas Sully, a landscape painting by Asher B. Durand, two paintings by Thomas Eakins and A Lady in Red, a portrait by William Merritt Chase. An Augustus Saint-Gaudens plaster cast of Robert Louis Stevenson and a bronze, Arcadia, by Eakins are examples of sculpture that were on view. The etching titled The Limeburner by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, a gouache seascape study by Winslow Homer, and a Frank Weston Benson pastel portrait of his two daughters are examples of the works on paper that were included.

A number of pieces by members of “The Eight,” otherwise known as the “Ashcan School,” were presented, such as Robert Henri’s ink wash, Breton Women, two etchings and a painting, Cat’s Paws, by John Sloan, a landscape by William Glackens and a drawing, Reclining Woman, by Everett Shinn. Other twentieth-century American works included: a still life by Marsden Hartley, a watercolor by Arthur Dove, an ink wash by Charles Sheeler, a gouache by Stuart Davis, Young Artist by Milton Avery, and The Forest by Fairfield Porter. Sculpture by William Zorach, José de Rivera, and Louise Nevelson were also shown.