PAFA buys Hudson River School paintings, other works

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has acquired a number of significant works by Hudson River School artists of the 19th century, as well as work by contemporary artists, including etchings by Sue Coe and David Lynch's first foray into a kind of filmmaking.

Funds for the acquisitions, which totaled more than $2 million, were drawn from a number of sources, said Harry Philbrick, director of PAFA's museum. Acquisition of the etchings by Coe and an oil painting by Katherine Bradford marked the first time the academy has used funds generated by the sale of Edward Hopper's East Wind Over Weehawken, which fetched $40.5 million at a 2013 auction.

The Coe and Bradford purchases were "less than $50,000," Philbrick said, adding that the academy has proceeded with acquisitions using Hopper funds "very slowly" - allowing the funds to be fully invested and begin generating ongoing purchase money.

Philbrick said the Hopper should provide about $1.5 million annually for purchases.

The 19th-century paintings acquired include Albert Bierstadt's Niagara (1869); William Frederick de Haas' Biddeford Beach, Coast of Maine (1875); and Thomas Moran's oil Two Women in the Woods (1870). Funds for these works - just shy of $2 million - came from "existing collection funds earmarked for Hudson River School" and related paintings years ago, said Philbrick.

He said that the academy was seeking to bolster its collection of Hudson River paintings, and works by female, African American, and contemporary artists.

Among the contemporary works just acquired is David Lynch's first film, made when he was a PAFA student in 1967, Six Men Getting Sick.