Found on the Brandywine River in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania,
the Brandywine River Museum is one of the more alluring
Chadds Ford attractions. It’s just a short 10-mile
drive from Wilmington to
Chadds Ford, and you’re just 30 miles from historic
Philadelphia.
Though the Brandywine River Museum is in Pennsylvania,
it’s still very much an attraction to consider when
enjoying northern Delaware. A Chadds Ford vacation is
a joy for many reasons, just one of which is the Brandywine
River Museum. The rolling hills here make for an incredibly
beautiful setting, which is reason enough to visit. Adding
a tour of the Brandywine River Museum should certainly
make your list of things to do in when vacationing in
northern Delaware. Art, gardens, architecture and history
are all covered in the interesting exhibits found here,
and the views of the river and trees are stunning from
a number of vantage points.
The Brandywine River Museum is housed in a gristmill
that dates to the 1800's. While its known primarily for
its collection of works by the famous Wyeth family, other
American artists are featured here as well, and you’ll
also find the Kuerner Farm close by. N.C. Wyeth’s
original home and studio is open to tours, and is certainly
one of the main attractions found on the grounds. The
Wyeth family is really quite a talented bunch, and father
N.C. certainly passed his skills on to his children. Much
like his father, Andrew Wyeth became a most notable American
artist, painting a myriad of “realistic” works
that centered around people and landscapes. Andrew Wyeth
found the Brandywine Valley to be a major inspiration
for many of his paintings. He grew up in Chadds Ford,
and the people and landscapes of his hometown often gave
him more than he needed to work with. The aforementioned
Kuerner Farm was exceptionally inspirational for Andrew,
and it’s found about a mile from the Wyeth home
in Chadds Ford. It was owned by Karl and Anna Kuerner,
who hailed from Germany,
and young Andrew first discovered it while enjoying a
walk one day.
N.C. Wyeth paid for his 1911 house in the Brandywine Valley with earnings from the illustrations he did for Treasure Island. Both the home and studio overlook the lovely valley, which is a big reason the Wyeth patriarch chose this privileged locale. Both the home and studio exhibit plenty of character, as does the Kuerner Farm. As far as the Brandywine River Museum’s art collection goes, you’ll find over 3,000 different works to look over. The collection focuses on American art, and hundreds of American artists have contributed to the exhibit in some way or another. Lanscape paintings, still lifes, and of course the three generations of Wyeth works are just some of the museum’s highlights. It’s really quite a dazzling collection, and if you like art, you will certainly include the museum on your list of Chadds Ford attractions. You can enjoy a bit of shopping in the Museum Shop before or after you enjoy your tours here, and there are a lot of nice reproductions and things the like for sell here.
Visiting the Brandywine Valley is easy from a number
of area locations. Even if you are vacationing in cities
like Baltimore
and Philadelphia, you can add it to the itinerary. It
certainly makes for wonderful day trips. The Brandywine
River Museum is open daily, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Admission is under $10 for adults, and even less for seniors,
students and kids. There are separate admission fees for
tours of both the N.C. Wyeth house and the Kuerner Farm,
and they are quite reasonable as well. Getting to all
the different sites is made easy by a museum shuttle bus.
During your Chadds Ford vacation or visit, other Chadds
Ford attractions you might consider visiting are the Brandywine
Battlefield Park, which is where the September 11, 1777
Battle of Brandywine took place, and the Brandywine Wildflower
and Native Plant Gardens, which is found next to the Brandywine
River.
