The New Hope Artists Colony: Fern Coppedge

Painting by Fern Coppedge

"The Pennsylvania Impressionists comprised one of the strongest male-dominated artists' groups in the early twentiteth century. But by the twenties, two significant women painters, M. Elizabeth Price and Fern Coppedge, entered their circle. Both were members of the Ten Philadelphia Painters, a group established for exhibition purposes. 

Although not as ambitious as Price, Fern Coppedge was extremely prolific, and for this reason her work is better known to art dealers and collectors today. She studied at the Art Students League with William Merritt Chase in New York City and at the Art Students League Summer School with John F. Carlson in Woodstock. She then moved to Philadelphia, where she studied with Daniel Garber at the Pennsylvania Academy. She also attended the Philadelphia School of Design for Women where she studied with Henry Snell. She first visited the New Hope area in 1917 and settled in Lumberville in 1920, near Garber, Johnson and Taylor.

Coppedge became noted for her local scenes, particularly noted for her winter landscapes. She was something of a local character, as was described in a review of a 1933 exhibition of her work:

'We remember seeing Mrs. Coppedge trudging through the deep snow wrapped in a bearskin coat, her sketching materials slung over her shoulder, her blue eyes sparkling with the joy of life... Born a man, she undoubtedly would have manned a trawler and sailed the Arctic Ocean. For her passion is space, the open spaces of lands and sea. There are no delicate still lifes or posed nudes in her exhibition.'

Coppedge was much influenced by both the rapid, spontaneous brushwork of Redfield and by the vibrant color of Garber. In addition, after 1925 her art also reflects the influence of the school of Paris. Her painting methods were not unlike the rugged outdoor painting methods employed by Redfield, Schofield, and Rosen. In fact she painted many landscapes in the back seat of her car. She was honored by a one-woman show at Bryn Mawr College in 1938. She died in New Hope, Pennsylvania, on April 21, 1951, at the age of 67. She was cremated, her ashes merged with the familiar flowing waters of the Delaware River which she lived next to and painted for 40 years in Lumberville and New Hope. "

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Pennsylvania Impressionists" by Thomas Folk.)