Thomas Birch Art

Thomas Birch (American, born England, 1779-1851) Winter Landscape, Pennsylvania Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches FRAMED: 27 x 33 inches (approx.) Thomas Birch was born in Warwickshire, England, son of the enamel and miniature painter William Russell Birch (1755-1834). He and his father settled in Philadelphia in 1794 and produced popular sets of engravings that documented the city's growth such as The City of Philadelphia (1800) and Country Seats (1808). Thomas Birch began to paint portraits around 1806, and soon gravitated to the subjects that made him famous, landscapes, winter scenes, and marine scenes. Birch also painted numerous winter scenes throughout his career, perhaps influenced by the popularity of sleighing and skating in Philadelphia. His landscapes represented the more rustic tradition of English painting and although the subject matter was either the Pennsylvania of New Jersey countryside, Birch’s imagination was oriented toward seventeenth century Dutch painting as he was influenced by artists Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael. Birch frequently exhibited his work at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Artists’ Fund Society, formed in 1835. His art was influential in the later development of the Hudson River School of painting and the style of romantic realism...

Thomas Birch is considered one of the earliest American Marine painters of importance both in his own time and historically, forming the foundation of what would become a great American Maritime movement in the successive years of the 19th century. Born in England, Birch started as a landscape painter but after the War of 1812 he turned to marine subjects, taking inspiration from the best of both English and Dutch maritime traditions but refining these techniques into a very recognizable style all his own. The work featured here is a classic of Birch's later period, when he focused specifically on maritime subjects, mainly the busy waterways of Philadelphia Harbor. Here we see one of those scenes- a series of ships plying their trade, all framed by the city as it sits across the Delaware River, with the tall, white spire of what is either Independence Hall or Christ Church to the left of the main vessel. The details of the city are particularly good in this painting, with the wharf building to the left and the long line of buildings all along the shore. The American Merchant Bark at the center of this painting is rendered in excellent detail, from her house flag and pennant, to her rigging and sails, and down to her deck filled with the activity of crewmembers readying the ship to head out, her gilt billet...