View of the Schuylkill County Almshouse Property

Charles C. Hofmann

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hofmann spent much of his adult life in communities along Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River, with frequent stays in public poorhouses, where he was admitted for “intemperance,” or alcoholism. He made approximately seventeen paintings of such facilities for staff members and officers of the charitable institutions. This work, painted from a high vantage point, provides a clear view of the grounds of the Schuylkill County Almshouse, near Pottsville. The bright, lively colors and clean, busy grounds depicted in the painting create a deceptively cheerful appearance. The scene is identified by the artist’s carefully lettered inscription in the foreground.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art