John Fulton Folinsbee (1892-1972), Bowman’s Hill, 1936-37, oil on canvas, H. 34 x W. 50 inches, James A. Michener Art Museum. Gift of Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest. Copyright 2007 John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.
This month’s mystery image is Bowman’s Hill by John Fulton Folinsbee. Along with being one of the noted landscape paintings at the Michener, its subject is of historical significance. Bowman’s Hill, now set in an established Wildflower Preserve, is a section of Washington Crossing Historic Park. The park was created to commemorate the famous “crossing” of the Delaware River by George Washington and his troops during the American Revolutionary War. If you visit this section of the park, you can see Bowman’s Tower. This 125 foot tower was constructed between 1929 and 1931 to commemorate which may have been a lookout point for General Washington. Learn more about the tower and its history.
The artist, John F. Folinsbee, created this painting in the mid-1930s. Compared to his earlier works, this painting uses darker colors, and is more expressionistic in its style. Folinsbee was known primarily as a landscape painter, but also depicted towns, shorelines, and factories around Bucks County and on the seacoast of Maine. Learn more about Folinsbee on our Collections Database.
Director’s Spotlight: Is the Museum for Sale?
Image of Exhibition Catalog, "Fern I. Coppedge: A Forgotten Woman." James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1990.
Maintaining ethical integrity has become a pressing concern in this time when trust in public institutions seems to be on the decline and the need for financial support has increased. A recent study by the American Association of Museums showed that the general public still holds museums to be among the most trusted institutions. Very shortly after I assumed my job as director of the Michener Art Museum in 1990, I faced the first of what would become a common ethical challenge as I strove to balance my responsibility to find the resources to maintain and grow the museum with my responsibility to uphold the institution’s independent artistic judgment and ethical integrity.
One of the first exhibitions I developed was the retrospective, Fern I. Coppedge: A Forgotten Woman. As part of that exhibit, the Museum wanted to publish an illustrated catalog as a permanent record of the exhibition. It was to be the first of many such publications the Museum would produce. The publication was to cost $28,000 for writing, editing, design, photography, printing and binding of 2,000 copies. One of my many jobs was to find the money to produce the book. I decided to ask collectors of Coppedge’s paintings who were lending works for the exhibition. One of the major collectors at the time was an individual who did not live in this community but who had the ability to help fund the book. I asked him for a $20,000 contribution, which unexpectedly generated my first true ethical challenge. Read More »