Five prints depicting the Christmas night crossing and the Battles of Trenton and Princeton are now on sale in the gift shop at the Washington Crossing Historic Park (PA) Visitor Center.
The prints, which were created by New Jersey painter Lloyd Garrison, are being sold by the Swan Historical Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering appreciation of the American Revolution.
Three of the paintings in the collection portray scenes from the crossing. Garrison painted the rendering of a ferry crowded with soldiers, horses, and oarsmen in the middle of the Delaware River through a consignment with Washington Crossing State Park in 2000. The other four paintings, which include renderings of a ferry departing and arriving and battle action from Trenton and Princeton, were created more recently, within the last three years.
“We’re really excited to be hosting this collection,” says Jennifer Martin, executive director of the Friends of Washington Crossing Park. “It provides the public with a new perspective on what was a pivotal period in our country’s history.”
“Historians understand that the Ten Crucial Days were the turning point of the American Revolution, but it’s not something that many Americans appreciate,” says William Traubel, a board member of the Washington Crossing Park Association and a trustee of the Swan Historical Foundation. “My agenda with this fundraiser, and other programs like it, is to elevate the crossing and the Ten Crucial Days to the same level of awareness as the battles of Lexington and Concord.” (The battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, were the start of the Revolutionary War.)
Proceeds from the sale of the paintings will be divided among the Swan Historical Foundation, the Friends of Washington Crossing Park, Washington Crossing State Park in New Jersey, the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, and Princeton Battlefield State Park.
Garrison has been fascinated with the war for the better part of the last 50 years. He opened his gallery in Rahway, NJ, as the buzz over the bicentennial anniversary was beginning to build. ”The public’s growing interest in our country’s history was a convenient excuse to continue indulging my own long-running curiosity about the revolution,” he says.
He quickly filled his new gallery with scenes from the Revolutionary War. All these years later, they’ve remained one of his favorite subjects.
He admits to “guessing” at the details of his early works. In becoming a student of the war, through copious amounts of reading and discussions with local historians and reenactors, his style has evolved to a much more authentic portrayal.
Garrison’s prints—matted, framed, and signed by the artist—will be available at the gift shop throughout the year or while supplies last. Most of the prints are $130 and are 11 inches by 14 inches. The “Washington’s Crossing” painting is $300 and the dimensions are 23.5 inches by 31 inches.
