Philadelphia International Championship  The Philadelphia International Championship race was held over the past weekend. It is no longer called the US Pro Championship race. That race was moved to Greenville, SC, to be held on Sept. 2, 2006. Left without the national championship race, Philadelphia was able to raise the money to hold a first-class pro race again this year, knowing the economic impact of the race on the city. The crowds seemed to be a bit smaller this year, and there were fewer recognizable big names among the racers. Most of the good U.S. racers are in Europe. New Zealander Greg Henderson won this year's event.

We drove up on Friday and spent a couple of hours at the Brandywine River Museum to see Andrew Wyeth: Master Drawings from the Artist's Collection. It was an excellent show of mostly pencil studies that were used for creating Wyeth's watercolor and tempera paintings. We joined a tour being given by Wyeth's granddaughter Victoria. She conducted a lively tour and answered questions about Wyeth's drawing techniques, subject matter, and working habits. He uses no. 2 (HB) and ebony pencils.

Victoria mentioned that she would also be conducting a tour of the show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and when I asked her about the tour she invited me to attend the next day at 9:30 a.m. We were staying a couple of blocks from the museum, and we walked over on Saturday morning to enjoy another excellent guided tour and free viewing of the popular show.

It's great to see Wyeth finally getting the attention he deserves, and some critical acclaim, although the N.Y. Times article on the Philadelphia exhibit was rather dismissive. Give them time, like 50-100 years.
posted by Bruce Wright at 10:46 PM #