November 5, 2008 – February 22, 2009
The first retrospective of this artist’s work and his incredibly long and distinguished life within the region, both as a prolific painter as well as a successful graphic artist for one of Wilmington’s best-known companies. Edward Grant’s artistic career spanned an astounding seven decades. While so many of his contemporaries moved to the ideal rural setting of the Delmarva Peninsula, Grant grew up, was trained, and practiced his craft within the region. His dedication to the development of the local art scene gave him, in our opinion, a unique perspective on the spaces, customs, and values he observed throughout his entire life. His earliest works exhibit the social realism of the late 20s and 30s, while his war-period works experimented with the contemporary trends of Cubism and Abstraction. He also was a successful graphic artist for one of Wilmington’s best-known and most successful companies, as well as a prolific painter. His later works, after 1968, are among his most highly regarded for their distinctive interpretations of life on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Grant’s artistic associations throughout the Delmarva Peninsula were extremely wide; he learned from some of Delaware’s greatest artists, was active in nearly every major arts organization within the state before 1970, was at the center of the Delaware arts communities, and was a life-long art instructor to hundreds of students. Forgotten Dreams will encompass an exhibition of works from the Biggs Museum, the artist’s own collection, and private collections throughout the region, accompanied by the first-ever retrospective publication of this important Delaware artist, which will review Grant’s large body of work in relation to his biography and significant historic moments that impacted the populations of the Delmarva Peninsula.