Visit to Winterthur, the House Museum Par Excellence

One of my goals in writing for NR is to cover art in all 50 states, which no art critic has ever done. It’s a big country with high culture everywhere, sometimes in dollops, sometimes delivered in demitasse spoons but, still, there’s life even where we least expect it. This week, I’m passing the halfway mark — 26 states covered — in writing about Delaware’s Winterthur, the magnificent historic house near Wilmington in the Brandywine Valley. Delaware is a tiny, strange place, a mix of North and South, inbred, a corporate sanctum, and, worth noting as we approach America’s 250th anniversary, the first colony to ratify the Constitution. It’s our first state.

I hadn’t been to Winterthur in 30 years. Shame on me since the art and period rooms — mostly from the colonial and Federal periods — are the pinnacle of quality and elegance. Its pride and joy is its superb collection of American furniture but also American silver, ceramics, textiles, glass, and flat art such as paintings, prints, and maps.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

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One of my goals in writing for NR is to cover art in all 50 states, which no art critic has ever done. It’s a big country with high culture everywhere, sometimes in dollops, sometimes delivered in demitasse spoons but, still, there’s life even where we least expect it. This week, I’m passing the halfway mark — 26 states covered — in writing about Delaware’s Winterthur, the magnificent historic house near Wilmington in the Brandywine Valley. Delaware is a tiny, strange place, a mix of North and South, inbred, a corporate sanctum, and, worth noting as we approach America’s 250th anniversary, the first colony to ratify the Constitution. It’s our first state.

I hadn’t been to Winterthur in 30 years. Shame on me since the art and period rooms — mostly from the colonial and Federal periods — are the pinnacle of quality and elegance. Its pride and joy is its superb collection of American furniture but also American silver, ceramics, textiles, glass, and flat art such as paintings, prints, and maps.