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The Anthony J. Drexel Picture Gallery, located on the third floor of
Drexel University's Main Building, has been historically restored
to its original state by Voith & Mactavish Architects, Philadelphia.
The
Gallery's walls are covered with a red fabric, the original brass
pendant lamps descend from gilded molding, and ebony-colored wainscoting
surrounds the room.
Anthony
J. Drexel, founder of the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry,
believed that education should be both practical and cultural. In
the closing years of the 19th century, Mr. Drexel purchased art
for the Institute, kept a log of the purchases, which is still in
The Drexel Collection™, and exhibited the art in the museum
on the first floor of the Main Building.
In
1894, Clifford P. Graycon, Director of Drexel Institute's Department
of Fine and Applied Arts, offered a teaching position to the illustrator,
Howard Pyle, and the art department flourished. The Institute attracted
Thomas Eakins as a teacher and students such as Maxfield Parrish,
Violet Oakley, Jessie Wilcox Smith and Frank E. Schoonover.
In
1902, when the Collection received a substantial gift of 19th century
paintings by artists of the Barbizon School and Düsseldorf
Academy, the collection required more space and was moved to the
Picture Gallery on the third floor.
Selected works from The Drexel CollectionSM are exhibited in
the Westphal Picture Gallery. Other works from the Collection are
exhibited in Drexel's Paul Peck Alumni Center, which was designed
by Frank Furness in 1876.

Anthony J. Drexel Picture Gallery, c. 1910
Photo from Drexel Library Archives
Museum, c. 1910
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