The Merrick Art Gallery is an early private art museum in western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, founded by industrialist Edward Dempster Merrick in 1880 in the old New Brighton,

railroad station. The gallery, or museum, was expanded to two connected buildings holding 240 works of art, and remains open, free-of-charge, to the public. The gallery was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1980.

Museum

Edward Dempster Merrick (1832–1911) moved from New York state to New Brighton as a child. He worked as a telegraph operator and in his father's bucket-making business, then joined his brothers in 1867 in a foundry business which they sold in 1885. At this time he made a shrewd investment in a horseshoe nail manufacturing company, which supported Merrick and his museum for the rest of his life. In 1880, he bought the c. 1850 one-story railroad station, and by 1885 had converted it into a two-story gallery. The second building was added around 1901. His collection of 18th- and 19th-century French, German, English, and American paintings fills the gallery and includes romantic, realistic, and impressionistic art by the artists

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (, 4 April 1758 – 16 February 16, 1823) was a French Romantic painter and draughtsman best known for his allegorical paintings and portraits such as ''Madame Georges Anthony and Her Two Sons'' (1796). He painted a portra ...

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...

, Hermann Winterhalter,

Thomas Sully Thomas Sully (June 19, 1783November 5, 1872) was a portrait painter in the United States. Born in Great Britain, he lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He painted in the style of Thomas Lawrence. His subjects included nation ...

, and

Charles Courtney Curran Charles Courtney Curran (13 February 1861 – 9 November 1942) was an American painter. He is best known for his canvases depicting women in various settings. Biography Curran was born in Hartford, Kentucky in February, 1861, where his father ...

. The

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area ...

collection includes paintings by

Asher Brown Durand Asher Brown Durand (August 21, 1796, – September 17, 1886) was an American painter of the Hudson River School. Early life Durand was born in, and eventually died in, Maplewood, New Jersey (then called Jefferson Village). He was the eight ...

Thomas Moran Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth too ...

John Frederick Kensett John Frederick Kensett (March 22, 1816 – December 14, 1872) was an American landscape painter and engraver born in Cheshire, Connecticut. He was a member of the second generation of the Hudson River School of artists. Kensett's signature works ...

, John William Casilear, and

William Trost Richards William Trost Richards (November 14, 1833 – November 8, 1905) was an American landscape artist. He was associated with both the Hudson River School and the American Pre-Raphaelite movement. Biography William Trost Richards was born on Novembe ...

. The paintings are closely hung in the 19th century tradition. The inclusion of geologic and zoologic exhibits also reflect 19th century practices. Another exhibit is a piano once played by

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

. Other collections include modern and contemporary art, a 19th-century library and items from the New Brighton Historical Society. By 1901 Merrick bought 200 paintings, ranging in price from $10 to $485, at a total cost of about $20,000. Merrick himself made 220 paintings which disappeared after his death.

References

External links

Merrick Art Gallery
{{Authority control National Register of Historic Places in Beaver County, Pennsylvania Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Museums in Beaver County, Pennsylvania Greek Revival architecture in Pennsylvania Victorian architecture in Pennsylvania Museums established in 1850 Railway stations in Beaver County, Pennsylvania Art museums and galleries in Pennsylvania Libraries in Pennsylvania Former railway stations in Pennsylvania