Francis Speight, Under the Bridge

In a largely silhouetted manner, a broken wall and solitary figure stand beside tracks, underneath a high arch that encloses a darkly painted sky. The expanse of water shimmers brightly from the sun.  Clouds signify a daytime scene, but the tone used echoes a nightscape. Much of Speight’s work captures the landscapes, rural and suburban, of Philadelphia and surrounding counties.

Woodmere has collected numerous works by artists who found their inspiration in Manayunk, an industrial and residential neighborhood on the Schuylkill River northwest of Philadelphia. Claude Joseph Warlow, Antonio P. Martino, and Ron Tarver are among those who have been drawn to Manayunk visual richness: the drama of its steep terrain and its mix of monumental, industrial, and domestic architecture.