Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment

Exhibition Info
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Walter & Leonore Annenberg Gallery
Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building
Curated by
Ali Printz, PAFA Terra Foundation Curatorial Fellow
Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment is an exhibition that explores Philadelphia’s relationship to the Appalachian region.

With paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture from PAFA’s permanent collection, the exhibition traces Philadelphia’s relationship to Appalachian extraction of natural resources from a historical to contemporary perspective.

The Appalachian region is vast, encompassing 13 states, with nearly 70% of the state of Pennsylvania representing the Appalachian territory. Motivated by both a lack of representation of Appalachian art in museum collections and recent trends in ecocritical scholarship, Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment examines themes that relate directly to Philadelphia and rural Appalachian Pennsylvania, referencing the ecology of early America, the establishment of networks of transportation like the railroad and the commodification of natural resources, and the pastoral relationship to the environment that inspired Philadelphia (and PAFA) artists. 

Featured Image: Hubert Davis, Spring in the Coal Regions, 1944, oil on canvas, 26” x 36”, 1945.2.

Gouache on paper featuring a person with their back turned next to oil barrels.
Dox Thrash, Untitled (Figure with oil barrels), mid 20th century, gouache on paper, 19” x 16.5”, 2019.3.60.
Oil on canvas painting depicting a spring scene in coal regions.
Hubert Davis, Spring in the Coal Regions, 1944, oil on canvas, 26” x 36”, 1945.2.
Oil on canvas depiction of a group of people, including miners with associated gear.
Philip Evergood, Mine Disaster, 1933-37. Oil on canvas. 40 x 70 in., Edward H. Coates Fund 2010.1 .
Oil on canvas painting of a person in a green field with blue skies above.
Louis B. Sloan, Self-Portrait in Landscape, 1970, oil on canvas, 48” x 42”, 2019.55.
Color etching of a deer in the woods.
Neil G. Welliver, Deer, 1982, color etching, ed. 21/61, 22 ½ x 26 1/16in. 2013.29.2.