AMERICA’S RIVER OF CHAMPIONS
Few parcels of American terrain possess a richer palimpsest of enterprise, memory and desire than that stretch of the Schuylkill River between East Falls and Fairmount Dam. Its waterworks provided the city with a safer source of drinking water, and a Neoclassical bucket-list destination for tourists. Malarial swamps were buried under broad esplanades. Parklands cobbled together from colonial estates protected the water-supply from industrial polluters. Flat water above Fairmount dam gave amateur rowers an ideal venue for training and competition, while inspiring artists from Birch and Calyo to Eakins and beyond.
In 2017-18, noted author and artist James Lancel McElhinney filled his painting-journal with views along the river, which formed the centerpiece of an installation at Independence Seaport Museum at Philadelphia’s Penns’ Landing. Seven of those images were published as a fine press limited edition. Those views and and more are now being unpacked by Needlewatcher Editions as individual archival pigment prints in the spirit of expeditionary & Grand Tour loose-sheets and bookplates, at a price accessible to most buyers.
—J.L. McElhinney, 2022
These images are drawn from James Lancel McElhinney’s exploration of the Schuylkill River, from Fairmount to the Falls. The fine press limited-edition was the centerpiece of the installation O.T.W. On the Water. The Schuylkill River, (below) at Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. October 24, 2018- January 5, 2020.
Prints from O.T.W. On the Water. The Schuylkill River have been installed in the lobby of the newly-renovated Burk-Bergman University of Pennsylvania Boat House, on Philadelphia’s historic Boat House Row (below)
Format: Each archival pigment print is on high-quality acid-free paper. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image size: 3.5 x 10.5 inches. Printed by Orion Studios in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Following the traditions of expeditionary art, a descriptive legend is printed below a full-size facsimile print of one of James Lancel McElhinney’s journal paintings; signed by hand below the lower right-hand corner.
WORKS BY JAMES LANCEL McELHINNEY ARE FOUND IN THE FOLLOWING COLLECTIONS:
Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina
Avery Fine Art and Architecture Library, Columbia University. New York, New York
Boscobel House and Gardens, Garrison, New York
Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia
City of Philadelphia. Water Department Archives.
Danville Museum of Fine Art and History, Danville, Virginia
Denver Art Museum. Institute for Western Art. Denver Colorado
University of Denver. Library Special Collections. Denver Colorado
Free Library of Philadelphia. Print and Picture Collection
Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, North Carolina
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers New York
Huntington Library and Museum, San Marino, California
Medical College of Virginia. Art Collection. Richmond, Virginia
Museum of the Southwest. Midland, Texas.
Newberry Library. Chicago, Illinois
New York Public Library. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photography
Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education. Portland, Main
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Archives and Special Collections S
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA
Temple University. Samuel L. Paley Library Special Collections
West Point Museum, United States Military Academy
Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. New Haven Connecticut”>Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia
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