Do you know the story of St. Valentine? Valentine's Day dates back to the martyrdom of St. Valentine in 270 AD. Accused of secretly marrying couples against the wishes of the Roman emperor and refusing to renounce his faith, Valentine was sentenced to death. While in jail, he passed a note to a friend signed “From your Valentine” the night before his execution.
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Two centuries later, Valentine’s Day became an official holiday when the Pope sought to replace the pagan festival of Lupercalia (which celebrated love and fertility) with the feast day of St. Valentine.
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Image: After Octavius Oakley (English, 1800 – 1867), engraved by Stephen H. Gimber (English, 1810 – 1862), Lydia Purple’s Valentine, 19th century, ink on paper, 9 1/2 x 6 inches, Museum Purchase, 1922.849.1.
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#valentine #valentines_day #stvalentine #museum #history #art #readingpublicmuseum #RPMvaultShare Your Thoughts
Merry Christmas to all those gathering around their trees today with family and loved ones! 📷 After Carl Schwerdgeburth (German, 1785 – 1878), Engraved by James Bannister (American, 1821 – 1901), Luther Amidst His Family at Wittenberg, on Christmas Eve, 1536, ink on paper, 5 15/16 x 9 7/8 inches, Museum Purchase, 1922.843.1.
#rpm #readingpublicmuseum #christmas #familyfirst #rpmcollection #rpmvaultShare Your Thoughts
Han and Tang Dynasty tomb figures, including standing attendants, camel, and oxen, Reading Public Museum #rpmvault #readingpublicmuseum #chineseart #chinesetombfigures #ancientchineseart #tombfigures #chinesecamel #sancaiglaze #chineseantiquitiesShare Your Thoughts
The Museum’s Cotopaxi by DeWitt Clinton Boutelle and Frederic Church just received a surface cleaning and frame repairs. The painting is a slightly smaller version than the Detroit Institute of Art’s canvas. Scholarly consensus is that Church commissioned this copy from Boutelle to serve as a model for an engraving (never realized) and sent to England. Church, largely dissatisfied with Boutelle’s copy, repainted much of the canvas. •
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#cotopaxi #rpm #readingpublicmuseum #rdgmuseum #dewittclintonboutelle #fredericchurch @diadetroit #rpmcollection #rpmvaultShare Your Thoughts
Thank you to all those that gave it their best and their all. Remembering our Veterans today and thinking of all those who continue to serve our country.
From the RPM Collection -
Commissioned by the Office of Emergency Management in 1942, this poster was intended to boost war production. This poster was one of the production incentive images for factories. By joining motto and flag, it is simple yet effective in its design.
Charles Toucey Coiner (January 1, 1898, Santa Barbara, California – August 13, 1989, Mechanicsville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania) was an American painter and advertising art director.
Charles T. Coiner (American, 1898 – 1989), Give It Your Best!, 1942, ink on paper, 20 x 28 inches, Gift, Mr. Raymond Schock, 1958.235.1. •
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#rpmCollection #rpmVault #VeteransDay #thankyouShare Your Thoughts
November 8 marks the first dusting in some areas! Who woke up to flurries this morning?
George Sotter (American, 1879-1953), Hill Road, c. 1920, oil on canvas, 22 x 26 inches, Museum Purchase, 1921.549.1
#PaBarns #berkscounty #rpm #firstsnow #rpmvault #rpmcollectionShare Your Thoughts
On days like this, we could ready use some summer breezes right about now! This painting has us wishing for cool winds and a little less heat…. This painting by Robert Lewis Reid and many others from the collection are currently touring the US as part of Across the Atlantic: American Impressionism through the French Lens.
Summer Breezes by Robert Lewis Reid (American, 1862-1929), c. 1910-1920
#readingpublicmuseum #rpm #rpmcollection #rpmvault #robertlewisreid #summerheatShare Your Thoughts
From the Collection: Happy Birthday Pissarro!
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Camille Pissarro was an active purveyor of Impressionist theory and was a primary developer of Impressionist techniques. During his lifetime, he was associated with other famous artists of the era, including Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Charles-François Daubigny, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley.
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For more on Pissarro, check out our latest blog post on readingpublicmuseum.org.
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#art #museum #impressionism #camillepissarro #fineart #berkscounty #readingpa #readingpublicmuseum #rpmvault #rpmcollectionShare Your Thoughts
Farewell, spring! Let’s say goodbye to one of our favorite seasons with 'Magnolia Seedpods', a woodblock print by Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer, from our 'Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity' touring exhibition.
#firstdayofsummer #woodblock #magnolia #readingpa #berkscounty #rpmvault #rpmcollection #rdgmuseumShare Your Thoughts
‘Lison, Normandy’ by James M.K. Waldron, former Curator of Fine Arts at RPM from 1958 to 1972. He was billeted near Lison during WWII while he was in the service. This watercolor was done later, but it was based off a sketch he had done while lodged in Normandy. .
D-Day. All gave some. Some gave all. .
James M. K. Waldron (American, 1909 – 1974), Lison, Normandy, 1944, watercolor on paper, 15 x 21 inches, Museum Purchase, 1948.130.1.
#dday #normandyinvasion #wwii #rpmcollection #rpmvault #rdgmuseum #readingpa #berkscountyShare Your Thoughts
Spring is here! 🌸🌳
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Daubigny was one of the painters of the Barbizon School, a precursor to the Impressionist style that aimed towards Realism, the art movement that strove to represent the subject as truthfully and as close to nature as possible. He often painted from his studio, which was aboard his boat called Botin, so that he could paint from the river. In his travels he met and influenced a number of young artists who would be become Impressionist masters, such as #ClaudeMonet and #PaulCézanne. .
Charles François Daubigny (French, 1817 – 1878), Spring, 1870s, oil on panel, 6 ¾ x 11 ¾ inches, Gift, Mrs. William L. Savage, 1921.206.1. .
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#spring #museum #berkscounty #art #impressionism #charlesfrançoisdaubigny #rpmvaultShare Your Thoughts
RPM is CLOSED for the holiday!
Have a Merry Christmas.
RPM will reopen on Wednesday, Dec. 26.
From the Christmas Collection -
John Wanamaker commemorative pewter plate "Christmas, Reading - 1972" made by Wilton-Armetale.
It pictures the Reading Public Museum inside an evergreen wreath, with a raised 5-segmented decorative edging. John Wanamaker Department Store's annual Christmas plate series in Reading, Pennsylvania.
#rdgmuseum #happyholidays #berkscounty #readingpa #rpm #rpmvault #rpmcollectionShare Your Thoughts
One of the best parts about Thanksgiving (other than being thankful, of course) is the food! Every year all over the country we cook mountains of tasty foods and scrumptious desserts in celebration of the holiday. .
Food is universal, and feasting is a celebratory act across many cultures. The way meals are prepared, served, and stored varies by cultural tradition in a lot of interesting ways! Take a look at the implements that different cultures have used throughout history across the world. .
Pennsylvania German, c. 1820-1860, Butter Mold, wood, 2 1/4 x 3 3/4 inches, Museum Purchase, 1935.190.5.5. .
Japanese, 1868-1926, Food Carrier or Picnic Box, wood, nashiji lacquer, 12 x 12 1/2 x 6 1/8 inches, Museum Purchase, 1932.811.8. .
Inuit Peoples (Alaska), Ulu (Woman’s Kinfe), iron, wood, 4 1/2 x 5 1/8 x 7/8 inches, Museum Purchase, 1927.2348.1. .
English, Plate, ceramic, 8 3/4 inches, Gift, Rev. A.D. Pell Collection, 1926.279.1. .
Panamanian, Food Vessel, stone, 6 3/4 x 12 3/8 x 5 3/4 inches, Museum Purchase, 1927.2588.1. .
Chinese, 12th-10th century BC, Tripod Wine Vessel (Jue), bronze, wood, Museum Purchase, 1928.217.1. .
Aboriginal Peoples, Australia, Coolamon (Food Carrier), wood, 2 x 12 3/4 x 6 1/8 inches, Museum Purchase, 1932.162.1.
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Hopi Peoples, 1870s, Decorated Food Bowl, earthenware with white and black slip, 5 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, Gift, Smithsonian Institution, 1915.81.21. .
#thanksgiving #food #culture #art #rpmvault #rpmcollection #rpm #rdgmuseumShare Your Thoughts
Happy birthday to William Merritt Chase! 🎨🎉 Born on this day in 1849, Chase was the oldest of six children. At the age of 23 he moved to Munich where he was heavily influenced by the Old Masters. 1878 brought Chase back to New York, though he continued to make several trips back to Europe, where he came into contact with many other important painters of the time, including Alfred Stevens, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler. After a successful career as a portraitist, Chase died in New York in 1916.
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Come see some of his works along with his palette and brush in Across the Atlantic: American Impressionism through the French Lens, on display at The Museum until January 20!
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Used by William Merritt Chase (American, 1849-1916), Artist’s Palette, wood and oil paint, 18 1/2 x 12 1/2 x 1/4 inches, Gift, William Ferguson, 1961.145.1.
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William Merritt Chase (American, 1849-1916), Girl with Doll, oil on canvas, 17 1/4 x 14 inches, Museum Purchase, 1932.389.1. .
William Merritt Chase (American, 1849-1916), Portrait of a Boy in Van Dyck Costume, oil on panel, 19 3/8 x 14 3/8 inches, Museum Purchase, 1939.342.1. .
William Merritt Chase (American, 1849-1916), My Palette, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, Museum Purchase, 1931.907.1.
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#williammerrittchase #impressionism
#readingpublicmusuem #art #berkscounty #rpmvaultShare Your Thoughts
Edward Francis McCartan, American, 1879 -1947, Girl Drinking from a Shell, c 1915, bronze, Gift, Ferdinand Thun and Henry Janssen, Reading Public Museum This is one of two known life-size castings of McCartan’s Drinking Girl, the other one is at Norfolk’s Hermitage Museum and Gardens #edwardfrancismccartan #edwardmccartan #bronzesculpture #americansculpture #americanart #readingpublicmuseum #rpmvault #drinkinggirl #artnouveau #artnouveausculptureShare Your Thoughts
Perfect light for dancing in the Arboretum. .
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Guy Dill. American. 1946-. Hayden. 2009. Bronze. Gift. Mr. and Mrs. Irv Cohen. .
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#rpmarboretum #fallsunset #goldenhour #rpm #rdgmuseum #readingpublicmuseum #berkscounty #readingpa #rpmvault #rpmcollectionShare Your Thoughts
The Lotus Pool by Colin Campbell Cooper🎨
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Cooper painted en plein air, a technique popular with impressionist painters where the artist would work outside in order to utilize natural light. .
Cooper's use of impressionist palette and brushstrokes in his oil paintings was inspired by Childe Hassam, who painted impressionist views of New York as early as 1890. Equally competent at watercolor painting, Cooper developed a technique of applying watercolors on canvas in a way that makes the finished work look like an oil painting.
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By the early 1920s, there were several landscapes that attracted the attention of Cooper, and this scene of El Encanto (The Enchanted) became a favorite for the artist. He made several paintings of the pond and pergola. The flourishing greenery and natural light relay his mastery of the plein air technique. .
See more impressionism in Across the Atlantic: American Impressionism through the French Lens now through January 20, 2019 at The Museum.
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#impressionism #art #museum #lotuspool #elencanto #santabarbara #americanimpressionism #berkscounty #RPMVaultShare Your Thoughts
🎨 Le Quai Sainte-Catherine, Martigues, France by Arthur Watson Sparks
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Though he is better known for his role at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (In 1908, Sparks established the Department of Painting and Illustration at the Carnegie Institute of Technology), Sparks had built up an impressive portfolio of his own. He had traveled extensively through Europe, where he was able to learn about the style of the Impressionists. In this scene of the harbor of Saint Catherine in Martigues, France, Sparks’ use of light, evident in the shadows, reflections in the water, and on the facades of the buildings, demonstrates his ability to capture its effects.
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Sparks, in seeking to enliven his parents painting without losing the value of academic technique, began to adopt the freedom of Impressionism. In a noticeably decorative manner he learned to subordinate his basically academic approach to the effects of light, color, and atmosphere.
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See more impressionism in Across the Atlantic: American Impressionism through the French Lens now through January 20, 2019 at The Museum.
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#impressionism #art #museum #arthurwatsonsparks #americanimpressionism #berkscounty #RPMVault #Martigues #FranceShare Your Thoughts
Happy #NationalFossilDay !
Fossils are the remains or traces of plants and animals that lived long ago. This can include anything from an enormous dinosaur skeleton to the impression of delicate ferns. Studying these fossils allow us to trace the history of the earth and the evolution of different organisms and is crucial to our understanding of our universe, our planet, and our own origins.
Come on out and show your appreciation for these amazing scientific curiosities! If you’d like to get involved, check out the events being held by the National Park Service as they celebrate National Fossil Day at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossilday/index.htm.
Photo 1: Diatryma
Photo 2: Fossilized trilobite
Photo 3: Fossilized raindrops
Photo 4: Fossilized plant remains
#fossils #museum #berkscounty #diatryma #raindrops #trilobite #plants #rpmvaultShare Your Thoughts
Blue and Gold by Richard Blossom Farley: In this painting, a dark-haired woman with a flower in her hair reclines slightly on a chair. She wears a blue dress and looks away from the viewer. Farley specialized in portraits, such as this one, with the suggestion of opulent interiors. This painting is remarkable for its rich textures; the elaborate pattern on the wall covering, the patterned upholstery on the settee, and luminous fabric of the sitter’s dress. Richard Blossom Farley studied at PAFA with William Merritt Chase, and in France with James Abbot McNeill Whistler. He exhibited in several competitions and venues over the years until retiring to the artists’ colony in New Hope, PA.
See more impressionism artists in Across the Atlantic: American Impressionism through the French Lens now through January 20, 2019.
#impressionism #art #museum #richardblossomfarley #americanimpressionism #berkscounty #rpmvaultShare Your Thoughts
