PENNSYLVANIA THROUGH THE EYES OF

PENNSYLVANIA THROUGH THE EYES OF

FERN COPPEDGE

Les and Sue Fox - Order Now

260 Pages - Profusely Illustrated (Includes Catalogue Raisonne)

It’s been three decades since an All-Fern-Coppedge book has been published. The authors have researched and written a comprehensive new biography rounding out the personal life and art career of their favorite artist: A talented farm girl from Illinois and Kansas who ended up winning art competitions for 30 years by creating hauntingly beautiful and original Pennsylvania landscapes. Tracing the general history of Fern Isabel Coppedge was the easy part. It’s documented in several books as well as on Wikipedia and a dozen websites. Discovering “the story behind the story” was the hard part. Fern Coppedge had six siblings but no children. Thanks to her extended family, previously unpublished photos, letters and stories have come to light that embellish Fern's success story and paint her as a more three-dimensional person. This is the first book to include pictures of her family including her parents and her mysterious husband, the high school teacher and botanist Robert W. Coppedge to whom Fern was married from 1904 until his death in 1948, and her favorite sister, Margaret Effa. Despite the authors’ best efforts to uncover every nook and cranny of the artist’s life, mysteries still remain. In fact, they hope to be contacted by contributors with additional documentation to update Fern’s life story. Pennsylvania Through The Eyes Of Fern Coppedge is a magical journey through the twists and turns of the life of an inspired artist obsessed with painting snow, sunlight and nature’s beauty. The book includes dozens of Fern’s masterpieces woven into the fabric of the influential people she encountered: Her teachers, her fellow art organization members, family and friends, art critics and the museums and collectors who prize her work. Indeed, creating this book was truly a labor of love.

CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ IN PROGRESS

Contact Us To Be Listed In Book.

Sample Entries – Now Accepting Submissions

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THE FERN COPPEDGE CATALOGUE RAISONNE IS NOW INCLUDED IN OUR BOOK.

Reference Key:  CWF-1:  Coppedge / Winter / Fox 1.  * CGF-1: Coppedge / Gloucester / Fox 1. 
* CSF-1:  Coppedge / Seasons / Fox 1.

FERN COPPEDGE: A FORGOTTEN WOMAN

 Michelle Pavone Stricker / Patricia Tanis Sydney

48 Pages - 22 Color Images

Published in 1990 by the James A. Michener Arts Center, “A Forgotten Woman” is an essay by Michelle Pavone Stricker which comprises the first half of the book. The second half of the book is a second essay titled “The Ten Philadelphia Painters” by Patricia Tanis Sydney, co-author of The Philadelphia Ten. The Michener “book” is actually an exhibition catalog presenting highlights of a two-month retrospective of Fern Coppedge (1883-1951) featuring 50 of the artist’s finest works and two well referenced biographies. Some of the paintings in A Forgotten Woman will appear in the new book by Les and Sue Fox including the story behind Evening Local, New Hope, the imaginative, semi-fictional painting shown on the cover. Because of a very similar painting once owned by a school in Vermont, Evening Local was mis-indentified in the Michener catalog as Five O’Clock Train, the name of the other version. (Note: Both paintings appear on the “Art & Education” page of this website.) Key details of Fern Coppedge’s life are recorded in the 1990 catalog along with a list of lenders and supporters including public institutions and private collectors. The exhibition itself was orchestrated by Bruce Kastiff, the Michener Arts Center’s Director in 1990, who wrote the Foreword. The Preface was written by Guest Curator Alan Goldstein, Professor of Fine Arts at Bucks County Community College. Brian Peterson, Chief Curator of the Michener from 1990 to 2013, was also involved in the 1990 exhibition. Fern Coppedge: A Forgotten Woman is currently out of print but a limited number of books are still available at the museum.

THE PHILADELPHIA TEN: A WOMEN’S ARTIST GROUP

Page Talbott & Patricia Tanis Sydney

176 Pages - 160 Illustrations

This painstakingly researched and very well written history of America’s most famous group of women artists was published in 1998 by the Moore College of Art and Design & the American Art Review Press in conjunction with a groundbreaking Philadelphia Ten art exhibition held at six museums in 1998 and 1999. The exhibition included a large collection of paintings and sculptures in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of Moore College, the first all-female art school, originally founded in 1848 as the Philadelphia School of Design For Women. Amazingly, one of the artists in The Ten, Theresa Bernstein, celebrated the opening of the show in Philadelphia at the age of 108. The Philadelphia Ten book includes six pages about Fern Coppedge, plus four full-page color plates and two half-page images. In addition to Fern Coppedge and Theresa Bernstein, all but two of the 30 members of this historic women’s artist group were represented in the 1998 exhibition. This book is out of print. However, good condition used copies are available on Amazon at a reasonable price.

PENNSYLVANIA IMPRESSIONISM

Brian Peterson

368 Pages - 407 Illustrations

Co-published with the James A. Michener Art Museum in 2002, Pennsylvania Impressionism was the first definitive work encompassing all of the important artists in The New Hope School including Daniel Garber and Edward Redfield. Acknowledged as the expert in his field, Brian Peterson once wrote that if he could hang only one painting by a New Hope artist in his home, that artist would be Fern Coppedge. Nevertheless, Peterson documents and analyzes the lives and work of all the talented impressionists of The Keystone State. Everything about the book makes it clear that the author, like thousands of art lovers, is passionate about this growing genre within the overall theme of American Impressionism.

NEW HOPE FOR AMERICAN ART

Jim Alterman

612 Pages - Over 1,000 Illustrations

The valuable information and more than 1,000 high quality photos contained in this well documented 600+ page volume are truly incomparable. The author has carefully and extensively researched the lives and careers of all of the major artists associated with the original Bucks County Art Colony, from Daniel Garber to Edward Redfield to Fern Coppedge, etc. He also included biographies, stories and illustrations of the work of 165 American artists associated with this genre. Although the paintings of the Pennsylvania Impressionists may not be represented in the New York museums to give proper credit to the contribution of the artists of New Hope and their associates, this book makes the case for why they should be hanging alongside of the famous New York / New England masters like William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam and William Metcalf. The women artists of The Pennsylvania Ten are also highlighted in this book. Bravo!

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A MUSEUM OF THEIR OWN

Wilhemina Cole Holladay

240 Pages - 200 Illustrations

Published by the Abbeville Press in 2008, this is the story of Wilhelmina Holladay’s successful quest to create a World Class museum to showcase the overlooked art of women. With her husband, architect and real estate developer Wallace Holladay, Wilhelmina originally founded the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 1981, at first inviting the public to view their art collection in her home. Two years later, she bought and rebuilt a magnificent Masonic Temple near The White House and filled it with the work of some of the most talented artists of all time. Today the impressive museum houses more than 4,500 pieces including paintings and drawings by Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keefe and Sofonisba Anguissola.