Berks County Almshouse, 1895

1895

Louis Mader

Associated Names
Louis Mader

Artist, American, 1842 - 1899 or after

The image shows a bird's-eye view of a pastoral community with a central large building complex surrounded by lush greenery and small structures. The horizon is high, displaying rolling hills and a light-filled sky. The brushstrokes are detailed, highlighting symmetrical trees, fields, and buildings. The color palette includes greens, reds, browns, and soft blues, accented by white picket fences and an American flag. Horse-drawn carriages and small figures are visible, and smoke rises from a chimney in the distance. Vignettes around the border show additional buildings and scenes linked to the community.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from Reading, Pennsylvania. Purchased in 1947 by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1953.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1968

  • Pennsylvania Almshouse Painters--Charles Hofmann, John Rasmussen and Louis Mader, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1968, unpaginated and unnumbered (cat. by Thomas Armstrong).

1978

  • The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

Bibliography

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 80, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 197, repro.

  • Armstrong, Thomas. "Charles C. Hofmann." In Lipman, Jean, and Tom Armstrong, eds. American Folk Painters of Three Centuries. Exh. cat. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1950: 103-109. (discusses Almshouse as institution).

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 230, repro.

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 249-250, repro. 250.

Inscriptions

lower right: Louis Mader; lower center: View of the Berks-County-Almshouse, 1895. / DIRECTORS: DR. WM. H. SEITZINGER--JOHN A. HIESTER--JONATHAN W. SCHWARTZ. / STEWARD: JOHN W. GILBERT--UNDER STEWARD: OLIVER C. SITLER. / CLERK: SAMUEL M. DECK.

Wikidata ID

Q20190475