Delaware Art Museum

The Delaware Art Museum stands today as a cultural landmark deeply rooted in the legacy of illustration, storytelling, and international art history. Its origins date back to 1912, when a group of Wilmington residents gathered to honor the life and work of Howard Pyle, one of America’s most celebrated illustrators. Pyle’s sudden passing the year before left a void in the artistic community, but his friends and students—among them N. C. Wyeth and Frank Schoonover—ensured that his legacy would endure. Their efforts led to the founding of the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, which became the foundation for the museum.

The museum’s collection quickly expanded beyond Pyle’s iconic works, thanks in large part to Samuel Bancroft, a local textile mill owner whose passion for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood led him to assemble the largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite art outside the United Kingdom. His acquisitions, including works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and archival documents connected to the movement, established the Delaware Art Museum as a unique institution with an international scope. In 1935, the Bancroft family’s gift of both the collection and the land near Kentmere Parkway made possible the construction of a permanent museum, which opened to the public in 1938.

Over the decades, the museum has grown steadily, expanding its galleries and its reputation. It has become a home not only for British Pre-Raphaelite art and American illustration, but also for significant works of 19th- and 20th-century American painting, with highlights by Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, and Paul Cadmus. Its educational mission has remained strong, offering classes, lectures, and community programs that inspire new generations of artists and art lovers.

Today, the Delaware Art Museum continues to honor its founders’ vision: to promote knowledge, enjoyment, and appreciation of the fine arts, connecting local heritage to the broader history of creativity.