The Philadelphia Sketch hosts An Instructor’s Legacy:
The Pedagogical Work and Students of Arthur DeCosta
April 4 through 25, to celebrate the presentation of the Distinguished Alumni Award. The exhibition includes works by DeCosta students, as well as DeCosta instructional sketches and demonstrations by DeCosta, to honor his 20-plus years of instruction at the Academy. The exhibition of DeCosta student works opens with a reception on Sunday, April 4, 2-5 p.m.

“To enter Arthur’s studio at the Academy was like stepping into the laboratory of a great wizard or alchemist,” said Vincent Desiderio, exhibitor in An Instructor’s Legacy and President of the Academy Alumni Association. “Everywhere we looked there were experiments, concoctions, preparations, text panels and notations. Shelves were cluttered with every manner of medium and pigment.”

The Philadelphia Sketch Club show is supported by insight into Arthur’s pedagogical methods and techniques. The exhibition features the work of more than twenty of his most distinguished students—including Desiderio, Albert Gury, Bo Bartlett, Sarah MacEneaney, James Brantley, and Patrick Connors—each of whom will contribute a written reflection on DeCosta’s legacy in technique and inspiration. Photos from the Academy’s archives will also be featured. The list of artists is still growing.

“His curiosity about the technical subject of painting was matched only by his uncanny ability to articulate the intricacies of the painter’s methods,” Desiderio continued. “His words brought into focus the most elusive qualities of painterly expression.”

An Instructor’s Legacy is curated by James Lynes, Pennsylvania Academy Alumni Association Vice President and Exhibitions Chair, with the support and advice of the exhibitors and Albert Gury, Chairman of the Painting Department at the Academy.

"Fairmount Gazebo at Dawn" by Patrick Conners

--- Read the joint press release ---
THREE INSTITUTIONS CELEBRATE PHILADELPHIA ARTIST--
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS, PHILADELPHIA SKETCH CLUB AND WOODMERE ART MUSEUM HONOR ARTHUR DeCOSTA

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