Anna Richards Brewster (aka Anna Brewster)
American, 1870–1952
"Columns at Philae, Egypt", depicts a temple colonnade on Philae, an island in the Nile River in southern Egypt. The temple was most likely devoted to the goddess Isis, since in ancient times Philae was dedicated to her worship. Brewster concentrated her attention on the structure’s monumentality, while also capturing the antique images and inscriptions that embellish the stone columns. When Brewster and her husband visited in 1912, Philae was known to be in jeopardy. It had been flooded in 1902 by a reservoir created when the Aswan Dam was built across the Nile, and a technical examination in 1907 revealed the deterioration of the architectural decoration. The place Brewster painted no longer exists as she saw it. Eventually the temples were removed to higher ground nearby and reopened in 1980.
American Paintings from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 2006, cat. no. 49, p. 130.
American, 1870–1952
Columns at Philae, Egypt
1912
Object Type:
Painting
Creation Place:
North America, American, Pennsylvania
Dimensions:
25 1/8 in. x 13 1/16 in. (63.82 cm x 33.18 cm)
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Accession Number:
1994.0001.0002
Credit Line:
Gift of the Estate of James L. Whitehead and Elliott P. Ellis
"Columns at Philae, Egypt", depicts a temple colonnade on Philae, an island in the Nile River in southern Egypt. The temple was most likely devoted to the goddess Isis, since in ancient times Philae was dedicated to her worship. Brewster concentrated her attention on the structure’s monumentality, while also capturing the antique images and inscriptions that embellish the stone columns. When Brewster and her husband visited in 1912, Philae was known to be in jeopardy. It had been flooded in 1902 by a reservoir created when the Aswan Dam was built across the Nile, and a technical examination in 1907 revealed the deterioration of the architectural decoration. The place Brewster painted no longer exists as she saw it. Eventually the temples were removed to higher ground nearby and reopened in 1980.
American Paintings from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 2006, cat. no. 49, p. 130.
Keywords
Click a term to view the records with the same keyword
Portfolio List
Click a portfolio name to view all the objects in that portfolio
This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Your current search criteria is: All Object records and [Object]Century is "Twentieth century".