New Acquisitions
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has recently announced the addition of 130 historic, modern and contemporary works to its permanent collection of American art. One of the newest acquisitions to the museum is an oil painting by landscape and figurative artist George Hitchcock (1850-1913) titled The Annunciation. The piece, which was completed between 1890 and 1909, was gifted to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts by the Ball Family in the Philadelphia area. Known for his depictions of annunciation scenes in major exhibitions throughout his career, this particular work appeared more than 100 years ago in a 1909 exhibition at PAFA.
“George Hitchcock was one of the most cosmopolitan and highly regarded artists of his age,” says Dr. Anna O. Marley, curator of historical American art at the museum. “I’m particularly happy to welcome this painting back to PAFA more than 100 years after it was last exhibited and to hang it in the same gallery it was hung in 1909 (in PAFA’S salon gallery), based on photo documentation housed in PAFA’S recently digitized Dorothy and Kenneth Woodcock Archives.”