Arts & Entertainment

Buckingham Gallery Showcases Local Artists

Herman Silverman has opened a gallery to display - and sell - the works of four Impressionist artists.

When the Bucks Fever studio tour wrapped up on Sunday evening, it finished with a reception at a new art gallery started by a familiar face.

Bucks County arts patron Herman Silverman has opened The Silverman Gallery, which hosted the Bucks Fever Artists' Studio Tour reception.

Housed in a suite at the Buckingham Green shopping center, which Silverman owns, the gallery offers a permanent home to exhibit the works of four well-known Bucks County impressionist artists - Joseph Barrett, Myles Cavanaugh, Alan Fetterman and Jennifer Hansen Rolli.

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The names of their works demonstrate their passion for rendering the quintessential images of Bucks County.

"Doylestown, State Street" is a 12 x 16 inch painting by Fetterman, which sells for $3,200.

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"Washington Crossing Winter" is a 9 x 12 oil on board by Rolli, which sells for $2,700.

"First Snow, Towpath" is a 16 x 16 oil on canvas by Cavanaugh, which sells for $2,800.

"Back Road to Buckingham" is a 28 x 28 oil on canvas by Barrett, which sells for $8,000.

Silverman bills the gallery, which opened on March 21, as a destination for "affordable, investment quality original art." The paintings gracing the walls range in price from a little over $1,000 to tens of thousands of dollars.

Opening such a gallery is gutsy at any time, but no more so than during the toughest economy in decades.

"My grandson said, 'Why do you want to do this? Nobody can afford to buy art in this economy,'" Silverman said recently, while showing a guest around the gallery. "That's why I want to do it. It's a challenge."

And apparently, buyers were indeed waiting for such an opportunity. Within the first two weeks of the gallery's opening, it had sold more than 20 paintings.

"The response has been amazing," said gallery director Joan Perkes. "I think there definitely was some pent up buying demand."

Silverman, now 91, has been a force in the world of Bucks County arts for many of those years.

He was a founding member, and is now chairman emeritus of, the board of trustees of the James A. Michener Art Museum. He is also a member of the Bucks County Arts Council and founded the Bucks County Artmobile.

It was the blunt advice of his wife, Liz, that spurred him into this latest venture.

"My wife said to me, 'You're always telling me about these galleries and what they're doing wrong,' " he related. "'Why don't you just start one? You've got the money, for Christ's sake.' "

Silverman and his team looked at more than 80 artists and their work before deciding on the four they eventually chose. The artists were chosen as much for what is in their hearts as for what their hands produce, Silverman said.

"The beauty you see on the walls is a reflection of their beauty within," said Steve Barth, a Doylestown consultant Silverman hired to help with the gallery. "Each of them is an extraordinary person."

More than anything, though - perhaps even more than selling paintings - Silverman wants his gallery to propel the artists to attain a pinnacle few artists ever reach. He wants them to be appreciated in their own time, not after they're dead.

"I want to start a buzz about these painters," said the personable patron. "If we can start people talking about them, talking about this gallery, maybe we can help them understand how important it is to preserve and promote the value and beauty of what they're doing."

The Silverman Gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or by appointment. Call 215-794-4300 for more information.


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