Acquisitions:

Antonio Pietro Martino
American, 1902-1988

WINTER, 1927
Oil on canvas
Gift of Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest, 2008

One of three early Martino paintings given by Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest, Winter is one of the artist's finest impressionistic works, winning for him his first Hallgarten Prize from the National Academy of Design. Mr. Martino studied at Philadelphia's Graphic Sketch Club (now Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial), the Spring Garden Institute, the La France Art Institute, and with Albert Jean Adolphe at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. Winner of many national awards, the artist was elected an Associate of the National Academy of Design in 1938 and a National Academician in 1942, the highest distinction awarded to American artists.

John Pierce Barnes
American, 1893-1954

SUNSET, 1942
Oil on board
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Pierce Barnes, 2008

John Barnes's Sunset depicts the Philadelphia skyline as seen from Camden, New Jersey where the artist worked as an artist for the Radio Corporation of America's Design Division. Barnes was born in Philadelphia and studied art first at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (now University of the Arts) and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Hugh Breckenridge and Daniel Garber. Barnes was awarded the Academy's coveted Cresson Travel Scholarship in 1924 and again in 1925, allowing him to study in France, Holland, and Belgium.

John Lear
American, 1910-2008

BUS STOP
Oil on canvas
Bequest from the estate of the artist, 2008

John Lear was born in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, where he lived his entire life. Mr. Lear was an active member and volunteer of Woodmere Art Museum throughout his adult life and selected Bus Stop to be offered as a gift to Woodmere upon his death. An early example of his art, the painting predates his later emphasis on the human figure for which he is better known. Mr. Lear received his artistic training at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (now University of the Arts) where his teacher was renowned illustrator Thornton Oakley. His art works are in numerous public collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Reading Museum of Art, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Claude Clark

Although born in Georgia, African American artist Claude Clark received his training in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art and the Barnes Foundation and, during the 1930s, worked in the Works Progress Administration's Printmaking Workshop in Philadelphia. He held teaching positions at Talladega College in Alabama and at Alameda and Merritt Colleges in California, where, in 1967, after earning a Master's degree from the University of California at Berkley, he established the first art curriculum conceived with an emphasis on the Black experience.

Woodmere Art Museum, Celebrating the legacy of Philadelphia Art & Philadelphia Artists.