This collection includes several watercolors and numerous prints generously donated by the family of Edward Glannon. Glannon was a teacher, painter and printmaker from Pennsylvania whose work has been shown at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Philadelphia Academy of Art. He work is a part of many public and private collections. Reflecting on his work, he said, “I had a feeling even as a boy that nature could give me a symbol to say anything that I could ever say. The trees, the leaves, the lights, the texture of the grass, the fields, were a complete language that could express any feelings that any human being could have.”
Glannon traveled throughout the United States and recorded his observations in art and word. “The land has a different accent in different places, but it can be very beautiful in almost any place.” But “the American land is not sweet. It can be a heartbreaking land.” Thus, Glannon’s paintings and prints also show huge trees uprooted by hurricanes, devastating floods and forest fires. “The destitute areas turn the spirit inward. When you face those lands, you are also facing your own spirit because there is no place for the spirit to go but home.”