“Suitable for Town and Country: Art and Artisans Connecting Philadelphia and Lancaster”
Attendees will experience the rare opportunity to hear Alexandra Kirtley, the Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, discuss and expand upon the themes presented in the current focus exhibit in Historic Rock Ford’s Snyder Gallery, “The Market Town and the Metropolis: 18th Century Lancaster and Its Artistic Connections to Philadelphia.” Lancaster, as one of the most significant inland towns in early America, served as a key adjunct to Philadelphia both in commerce and in the decorative arts. This relationship is reflected in both the mutual influences, styles and artisanship of Lancaster and Philadelphia furniture, the Lancaster “tastemakers” who patronized Philadelphia artisans as well as the works of those who pursued artistic careers in both places.
Ms. Kirtley, who curated the outstanding exhibit on Early American Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and authored American Furniture: 1650-1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Yale University Press, 2020), is a highly engaging speaker who is widely considered to be one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the furniture and decorative arts of early Pennsylvania. Her book will be available for purchase and signing at the presentation.
Refreshments, wine and hors d'oeuvres beginning at 5 PM followed by Alexandra Kirtley's presentation at 6 PM.
The John J. Snyder, Jr. Gallery of Early Lancaster County Decorative Arts will be open before and after the presentation.