Chestnut Hill House Evolves into a Home for Art

Chestnut Hill House Evolves into a Home for Art 
By James Weaver

Some people have called it the “Addam’s House” because it resembles the house in the television show The Addams Family. Actually, no one knows where the name of the handsome Victorian mansion at the corner of Bells Mill Road and Germantown Avenue, Chestnut Hill, originated. Charles Knox Smith (1845-1916), a prominent Philadelphia businessman (oil brokerage and gold and silver mining in Mexico) and member of the Philadelphia Common Council (before it became City Council) acquired the house and grounds in 1901. Built sometime before 1867, it was already called “Woodmere” and the name stuck. Smith was the fourth owner. He was living in the city’s Kensington neighborhood at the time, but he was rapidly outgrowing his space. He had become interested in art and art collecting and his collection was growing.

Our Collection: Frederic Edwin Church

Frederic Edwin Church was perhaps the best-known representative of the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Born in Hartford in 1826, he was the privileged son of Joseph Church, a jeweler and banker of that city, who interceded with Connecticut scion and collector Daniel Wadsworth to persuade the landscape painter Thomas Cole to accept his son as a pupil. From 1844 to 1846, Church studied with Cole in his Catskill, New York, studio and accompanied him on sketching sojourns in the Catskill Mountains and the Berkshires of Massachusetts. At one point, the master characterized the student as having "the finest eye for drawing in the world."

New Exhibitions at Woodmere!

PHILADELPHIA – Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia’s premier institution for interpreting the art and culture of the Philadelphia region, announces the opening of five new exhibitions on Sunday, April 3 alongside a full calendar of engaging programs, including a Friday evening jazz series in April, children’s activities, and lectures. The museum will also introduce new visiting hours including extended evening and weekend hours, beginning April 3.

New museum hours (as of April 3) are: Tuesday through Thursday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Friday 10:00 a.m.–8:45 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m., and Sunday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Woodmere is located at 9201 Germantown Avenue in the historic cobblestoned Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. Admission to special exhibitions is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, and FREE for students and children. For visitor information, call (215) 247-0476 or visit www.woodmereartmuseum.org.

Woodmere Art Museum will present two exhibitions in conjunction with the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) – Charles Demuth in the City of Lights, which explores the work of one of America’s greatest modernists, and Violet Oakley and the Women Artists of Paris, which offers an intimate look at the Philadelphia/Mt. Airy illustrator, muralist, and stained glass artist.