Philadelphia's Orsay

Your Center City Correspondent made a discovery today.  A few months ago Groupon was offering half-price membership to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  You know I love a bargain, so I could not resist their offer.  It took us a while to get there, but today we took the short walk over to Broad and Cherry Streets and found ourselves surrounded by some of the great American works of art from the past few centuries.  Most of the artists whose work is on display have studied or taught there, so you could consider it our local museum. 

Now the PAFA is tiny by comparison to the Art Museum on the Parkway, but it is a gem.  First, the building was designed by Frank Furness and constructed in 1876, and the interior construction is a work of art by itself.  Some of the artists include most of the Peales, Thomas Eakins, Theodore Robinson, Edward Hicks and many more.  Some of their works include portraits of George Washington, The Gross Clinic, Peaceable Kingdom and William Penn’s treaty with the Indians.  There are busts of famous Americans including Abraham Lincoln and John Paul Jones.  And we only saw half of it.  There is another building nearby that Mrs. CCC said we’d visit on another day.

So if you’re looking for a bit of local culture, head for the PAFA.  It’s a true treasure right here in Center City and you don’t have to spend all day there.  Check out their website here:

http://www.pafa.org/