Moonlight Over the Farm, 2009
by Peter Sculthorpe (b. 1948)40¼ x 39¼ inches
Signed and dated lower right: P Sculthorpe / –09–
Provenance
The artist
Jim’s of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery, Lambertville, New Jersey, acquired from above, 2009
Related Works
The Waning Year, 1983, watercolor on paper, 58 x 41½ inches; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware
Windy Day, 1990, watercolor on paper, 19 x 28⅝ inches; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Note: The farm became an important motif for artist Peter Sculthorpe. His depictions capture the textures of the various stone, wood, and metal materials of each structure. Describing the importance of this imagery, Sculthorpe writes, “For me, the farm offers some sanctuary to revel in unspoiled views that are becoming hard to find. It is indeed a refuge, but it is other things as well. Every building and structure tells a story—the farmhouse and its outbuildings form a complete community. It is a personal place where you are brought into direct contact with the land, the buildings, the crops, the animals, the machines, and the people.”[1]
[1] Peter Sculthorpe, The Art of Peter Sculthorpe: Paintings Spanning Four Decades (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2015), 41.
Artist Biography
A realist painter, Peter Sculthorpe is known for landscapes of farm life and stone architecture in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and along the Brandywine Valley, Delaware. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and established a studio in Chester County. His later depictions have also included Maine and Canada. Regarding his subjects, Sculthorpe says:
"I contemplate the reasons I feel compelled to paint and the importance of what I paint. I need to imagine the world without modern artifices, a world more simple, a time before. Technology has invaded the innermost crevices of our being. Even when painting far