A new exhibition at the Michener Art Museum explores how Bucks County's quarries shaped a generation of painters.

"Abstractions of Nature: Quarries and Industry in Pennsylvania Impressionism" opened Sept. 5 at the Doylestown museum and runs through Feb. 28, 2027. The show gathers work by 14 New Hope School artists who painted the region's rock faces during the first half of the 20th century.

Daniel Garber anchors the exhibition. Born in Indiana in 1880, Garber trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). He settled in Bucks County with his wife, Mary, in 1907 and bought a farm in the Cuttalossa Valley near Lumberville.

Garber taught at PAFA from 1909 to 1950 and became one of the New Hope art colony's best-known figures. In 1922, he praised the quarries along the Delaware River as giving "you things like the Grand Canyon but on a scale commensurate with the canvas," according to the Michener's exhibition page.

Laura Turner Igoe, the Michener's Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator, told the Philadelphia Inquirer the quarries gave painters a canvas-friendly sense of scale. "You can't get the Grand Canyon on a canvas, but you can get a quarry," Igoe said.

The show also marks the 100th anniversary of Garber's monumental mural "A Wooded Watershed," which he debuted at the 1926 Sesquicentennial International Exposition in Philadelphia. The mural is on view as part of the Michener's permanent collection.

Among the 14 artists, Letitia Maxwell Ely stands out as the exhibition's only woman. A Garber student, Ely painted scenes that bring viewers closer to the quarry floor and the workers there, according to the Inquirer. Igoe said little of Ely's work survives.

Roy Nuse, another featured artist, lived near the Rushland quarry and painted it across seasons throughout his life.

Active quarries have been part of Bucks County for centuries. The Buckingham Valley deposit, a narrow band of limestone and dolomite, stretches southwest from Center Bridge to the outskirts of Doylestown, according to Bucks County Magazine. Some works in the exhibition are loans from private collections rarely shown in public.

Visitors can also touch actual rocks collected from nearby quarries by the curator's colleagues.

The exhibition is at 138 S. Pine St. in Doylestown. Museum hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Free admission is available on Second Sundays through Dec. 13, with support from Art Bridges Foundation.

The next free dates are Oct. 11, Nov. 8 and Dec. 13.

Upcoming related programs:

  • Thursday, Nov. 5: Beyond Words Book Club, 1–2:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, Nov. 12: Ekphrastic Writing workshop, 1–3 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Nov. 17: Virtual curator talk with Laura Turner Igoe, 7–8 p.m.
  • Thursday, Dec. 10: Beyond Words Book Club (evening session), 6:30–8 p.m.

Visit the Michener's exhibition page for tickets and details.