Few parcels of American terrain possess a richer palimpsest of enterprise, memory and desire than does a stretch of the Schuylkill River between East Falls and Fairmount Dam. Its waterworks provided the city with a safer source of drinking water, and a Neoclassical bucket-list destination for tourists. Malarial swamps were buried under broad esplanades. Parklands cobbled together from colonial estates protected the water-supply from industrial polluters. Flat water above Fairmount dam gave amateur rowers an ideal venue for training and competition, while inspiring artists from Birch and Calyo to Eakins and beyond.
Robert Campbell after Thomas Birch (1779-1851). View of the Dam and Water Works at Fairmount, Philadelphia. Collection of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia PA. (Reproduced under Fair Use, etc.) During the late 18th and into the early 19th-century, Philadelphia was the center of art-publishing in the United States. The city remained a significant force in the publishing industry well into the 20th century. Prints like these with descriptive captions reproduced fine art paintings for popular consumption. Contrary to popular belief these were not necessarily created for wall display. Viewed through contraptions like the Zograscope, used as a form of visual entertainment. The genesis of the American landscape tradition predates the emergence of Thomas Cole as a leading proponent of landscape painting. Prior to his arrival in New York, Cole honed his skills by working in a Philadelphia engraver’s studio. The demand for Grand Tour scenery had been established a century prior, as reproductions of landscape paintings by Richard Wilson, Canaletto, and others. Following the French and Indian War, British military officers such as Governor Pownall and Thomas Davies collected sketches of North American topography that were published in various iterations, including Scenographia Americana in 1768.
Governor Thomas Pownall and Thomas Sandby. View of the The Falls of Cohoes. ca. 1768. Engraved by William Elliot. Published by Bowles, Bowles, Sayer, Jeffrys & Parker. London. Collection Albany Institute of History and Art. Albany, N.Y.
Following the disruptions of the American war of independence (1776-1783), professional artists emigrated to the new republic to capitalize on its natural wonders. William Birch, Thomas Birch, Joshua Shaw, and Samuel Seymour established themselves in Philadelphia. A Yellow Fever epidemic ravaged the city in 1793, motivating civic leaders to harness the Schuylkill River as a safe source of drinking-water. A dam was thrown across the river, at the foot of a large rocky outcropping dubbed Fair Mount. Pestilential marshes that served as breeding-grounds for mosquitos lined the banks that reached back to East Falls. Many were submerged by the rise in water-level. What remained was later buried under broad esplanades traversed by footpaths and carriage-roads. The course of the river was directed through a series of neoclassical buildings at the foot of Fair Mount, into which had been excavated a vast reservoir. William Strickland’s Water Works, and the nearby Colossus (Spring Garden Street) Bridge became bucket-list tourist attractions. In 1835, a group fo amateur rowing-clubs held the first official regatta, which led to formation of a world-class venue for competitive oarsmen, and later; women.
Nicolino Calyo. The First Schuylkill Regatta. Watercolor and gouache on paper. (ca. 1835). Debra Force Fine Art. The painting for many years hung in Castle Ringstetten, the upriver clubhouse of Undine Barge Club, of which painter Thomas Eakins and architect Frank Furness were both members
In 2017-18, I filled a painting-journal with sites along the river, from East Falls to Fairmount. These formed the centerpiece of an installation at Independence Seaport Museum at Philadelphia’s Penns’ Landing. Seven of those images were published as a fine press limited edition. Those views and and more are now being unpacked by Needlewatcher Editions as affordable individual archival pigment prints, in the spirit of expeditionary & Grand Tour loose-sheets and bookplates.
—J.L. McElhinney, 2022
These images are drawn from James Lancel McElhinney’s exploration of the Schuylkill River, from Fairmount to the Falls. The fine press limited-edition the centerpiece of the installation O.T.W. On the Water. The Schuylkill River, (below) at Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. October 24, 2018- January 5, 2020.
Prints from O.T.W. On the Water. The Schuylkill River have been installed in the lobby of the newly-renovated Burk-Bergman University of Pennsylvania Boat House, on Philadelphia’s historic Boat House Row (below)
Format: Each archival pigment print is on high-quality acid-free paper. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image size: 3.5 x 10.5 inches. Printed by Orion Studios in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Following the traditions of expeditionary art, a descriptive legend is printed below a full-size facsimile print of one of James Lancel McElhinney’s journal paintings; signed by hand below the lower right-hand corner.
EXPLORE THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER
FROM FAIRMOUNT TO THE FALLS
(Scroll down)
OTW_1. Fairmount Waterworks and Philadelphia Art Museum.
OTW_2. Fairmount Dam from the Summit. $250.00 Purchase now
OTW_3. Boat House Row from behind Lloyd Hall. Included in the limited edition O.T.W. The Schuylkill River.
OTW_4. Looking south from the Ellen Philips Samuel Memorial Sculpture Garden.
OTW_5. North from under the Railway Connecting Bridge. Included in the limited edition O.T.W. The Schuylkill River.
OTW_6. Cherry Trees Blooming at Three Angels. Included in the limited edition O.T.W. The Schuylkill River.:
OTW_7. Oarsman passing Three Angels. Included in the limited edition O.T.W. The Schuylkill River.
OTW_8. Columbia Bridge and the Dragon-Boat Dock. Price:
OTW_9. Columbia Double with Memorial Hall. Included in the limited edition O.T.W. The Schuylkill River.
OTW_10. Rowers approaching Columbia Bridge. Included in the limited edition O.T.W. The Schuylkill River.Price:
OTW_11. Single. Columbia Bridge. Peters Island.
OTW_12. Lane Markers at Peters Island. Price:
OTW_14. Outrigger Canoes Passing Peters Island.
OTW_15. Strawberry Mansion Bridge from Temple Boathouse.
OTW_16. Single Scull Passing Strawberry Mansion Bridge.
OTW_17. Under Strawberry Mansion Bridge. Included in the limited edition O.T.W. The Schuylkill River.
OTW_18. Mendenhall Ferry. Below the Falls.
OTW_19. Twin Stone Bridges. East Falls. Included in the limited edition O.T.W. The Schuylkill River.
PURCHASING OPTIONS (Click on the image below)
Limited copies of O.T.W. The Schuylkill River are still available: Click on the image below for more details about the fine press limited edition of 50 copies released in 2018.
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