Dr. George Morley Marshall

History of the New Hope Colony

and the Pennsylvania Impressionists

 

 

1896 Dr. George Morley Marshall acquires Phillips’ Mill.

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In 1896, Philadelphia surgeon and laryngologist Dr. George Morley Marshall (1858-1935) purchased the hamlet of Phillips’ Mill in Solebury Township, PA, from the Betts Family. The property included a grist mill with water rights and glen, a dam, a pond, the Primrose Creek and a 40-foot waterfall which fed the mill race to run the two waterwheels. Built in 1756 by Aaron Phillips, Dr. Marshall converted the property into a summer retreat for his young family. He built a stage in the defunct mill for his children and they put on performances for the growing artist community and their families. Dr. Marshall’s Highland Cove home today stands amongst the properties designated as the Phillips’ Mill Historic District in 1983.

 

William Langson Lathrop and the gathering of artists.

 

In 1897, Dr. Marshall wrote to his boyhood friend, noted landscape artist William Langson Lathrop (1859-1938), inviting him to come to New Hope to paint the breathtaking landscapes surrounding the quaint English-style village. Lathrop traveled to New Hope with his wife, Annie Sarah Burt whom he married in 1888. They rented the miller’s house (formerly the Aaron Phillips House) on Marshall’s property, later purchasing it and the surrounding 4 acres of farmland in 1899. Annie became a beloved figure in the arts community. Her Sunday afternoon teas, held on the lawn of their home on the canal, are legendary. 

 

Following Lathrop, artists were drawn to the bucolic surroundings of the New Hope area. Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965), Daniel Garber (1880-1958) and Morgan Colt (1876-1926) are among the notable artists who came to the area. Redfield settled with his family a short distance north on the towpath in Center Bridge, PA, and Garber found a home on one of the most picturesque vistas in Solebury Township, Cuttalossa Creek. In 1912, Colt purchased land from Lathrop on which he built his English Tudor home and the Gothic English village which was to become the Artist Colony.

 

Edward Willis Redfield brings prominence to the colony.

 

While in France studying at the Académie Julien and École des Beaux-Arts, Edward Redfield met Elise Deligant and they married in London in 1893. Together they settled into a home he renovated along the Delaware River towpath in Center Bridge in 1898 and had six children. While Redfield was an independent artist, choosing not to formally align himself with the New Hope Group, he was to have a profound influence on the Impressionistic movement awakening in America in the late 19th and early 20th century. “As Redfield’s international reputation spread, many young artists gravitated to New Hope as he was a great inspiration and an iconic role model,” noted James Alterman in New Hope for American Art.  Redfield’s work is among the most widely recognized of the Pennsylvania Impressionists.

 

Morgan Colt builds a village.

 

Morgan Colt was quite a renaissance man. In addition to being a landscape artist, Colt studied architecture at Columbia University and was a prolific builder and craftsman. The English village which lodged and provided workspace for the artists was the vision of Colt who designed and built the Cotswold-style village between River Road and the scenic Delaware River. Colt built his English Tudor home across from the mill, his Gothic English studio and the English workshop cottages where he handcrafted furniture and forged iron works and signage. He also built the Inn at Phillips’ Mill which originally served as The New Hope School, later known as the Holmquist School For Girls.

 

Today, Colt’s Studio is the beloved home of New Hope Colony Foundation founder, Eleanor Miller.

 

Daniel Garber and his student R.A.D. Miller

 

After studying abroad on a fellowship from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), Garber returned to America in 1907 and settled in nearby Lumberville along the Cuttalossa Creek. He began his illustrious teaching career at PAFA in 1919 and remained a beloved and respected instructor for 30 years.

 

Garber’s student, R.A.D. Miller married Dr. Marshall’s daughter, Broadway actress Celia in 1929 and they were gifted two pre-Revolutionary War homes, Glen Cottage and Glen Gables in the heart of the artist colony. The Miller Family leads the New Hope Colony Foundation today in the preservation and reactivation of the historic artist colony.

 

1916 The New Hope Group comes together.

 

Among the artists who joined The New Hope Group were Henry Snell (1858-1943), Charles Rosen (1878-1950), Robert Spencer (1879-1931), Rae Sloan Bredin (1880-1933), George Sotter (1879-1953), Mary Elizabeth Price (1877-1965), John Fulton Folinsbee (1892-1972), Fern Coppedge (1883-1951), Walter Elmer Schofield (1866-1944) and Robert Alexander Darrah (R.A.D.) Miller (1905-1966). The artists - absent Redfield who remained independent - organized an exhibition group known as The New Hope Group in 1916. Bucks County luminary, author James A Michener fondly referred to them as “that New Hope Gang” in the forward to Thomas C. Folk’s The Pennsylvania Impressionists.

 

1929 The New Hope Group purchases Phillips’ Mill and

forms the Phillips’ Mill Community Association.

 

The Group longed to exhibit their work for the community to enjoy and offer works for sale to sustain the growing artist colony. In 1929, the Group formally organized and founded the Phillips’ Mill Community Association. They purchased the mill from Dr. Marshall and on May 25, the first Exhibition was held at Philips’ Mill with 125 works exhibited by 41 artists. Nearly a century later, the Phillips’ Mill Community Association continues the traditions established by the founders and holds its distinguished Juried Art Exhibition each Fall. 

 

The story continues . . .

More history and photos to come. 

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