Frank E. Schoonover: American Visions

Frank E. Schoonover's (1877-1972) legendary adventure paintings were inspired by the belief that artists should live what they paint - an adage often repeated by his noted teacher, illustrator Howard Pyle, and absorbed by his fellow student and friend, N.C. Wyeth. This exhibition will explore the breadth of this important Golden Age artist's career [....] and illuminate the depth of his wanderlust. Schoonover made daring excursions to Canada and Alaska, including one 1903 trip in which he traveled 1,200 miles almost entirely by snowshoe, dogsled, and canoe.

He lived among the Blackfeet Indians of the northern plains, and with Alaskan eskimos to experience first-hand the world portrayed in Jack London's To Build a Fire. The artist's experiences would inspire his art throughout his career, making authentic portrayals of the far reaches of America possible.

The exhibition will feature Schoonover's paintings for such classic stories as Kidnapped, Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robonson, and Ivanhoe, as well as illustrations for the novels of Zane Grey. Schoonover's long teaching career will also be examined, as will his role in establishing the Delaware Art Museum. [....] Eighty original paintings, drawings, and studies will be on view, as will archival photographs and examples of the artist's daybooks and personal effects.