Who was Rae Sloan Bredin?
Image Credit: Rae Sloan Bredin (1880 – 1933), Morning Light (alternatively titled Lawn Shadows), c. 1931, oil on canvas, 25 x 30 inches. Courtesy of Private Collection, Copyright Bredin Family.
Rae Sloan Bredin (1881-1933) was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania. He spent time studying at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, the New York School of Arts, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he made connections with working artists. It was to visit a fellow artist and former classmate that prompted Bredin to come into the Bucks County area in 1911. Coming the first time to visit Charles Rosen, as well as to study with William Langson Lathrop, Bredin found himself coming back many more times not just for the community of artists, but to visit Alice Rachel Price, sister of noted art dealer and gallerist F. Newlin Price and painter M. Elizabeth Price, whom he later married.
The two were married on the lawn of the Price family farm in Solebury, Pennsylvania, before spending time abroad for a honeymoon and returning to settle in New Hope. As their family grew to include two daughters and a son, they moved into a larger home that they called Lawn Shadows. The house became a common backdrop to many of Bredin’s paintings, as did the subject of his family and friends. He favored the spring and summer seasons, which he often painted.
Unlike the other New Hope impressionists, Bredin often included figures into his paintings, set against the serene Delaware River Valley backdrop or placed in quiet interior settings. The other New Hope impressionists were more interested in the landscape of the Bucks County countryside and the idea that they could make a living from the land and be free to work creatively. Bredin became one of the founding members of the New Hope Art Colony, exhibiting with them in 1916 and 1917. He also taught at several schools, best known for his position the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now Moore College of Art and Design) where several of his students formed The Philadelphia Ten.
Rae Sloan Bredin: Harmony and Power will be on view at the Michener Art Museum now through July 15, 2018.
Compare Morning Light (Lawn Shadows) to After the Rain found on the Google Arts Project.
Download activities you can do in conjunction with his work during your visit to the exhibition including: Family Portraits (.pdf) and Shifting Seasons (.pdf)