We are thrilled to welcome back acclaimed artist, Dane Tilghman, for another solo exhibition. Dane is a premier painter of African American culture, whose work is in numerous universities and major sports arenas, in addition to being collected by celebrities like Nelson Mandela. 

 

    For the third year in a row, Dane brings his larger-than-life artwork to our walls, giving the people of Lewes the opportunity to bask in the grandeur of his impressionist-style paintings. 

 

    The ethos of Dane’s work is to bring awareness and attention to the lost history of African American communities throughout the US. Dane embraces an extravagant style and color palette to make Black life and culture from the early 20th Century the centerpiece of artistic admiration. He isn’t confined by artistic rules or forms, opting to combine qualities of cubism, impressionism, and realism with palette knife work and various mediums to create textural pieces that come to life on the canvases. 

 

    His powerful, yet poignant, works remind viewers of the importance of a caring society for people of all color and creed, not only in history but in the present and the future.

 

    Dane Tilghman grew up in West Chester, PA and has been a professional artist for nearly 40 years. His family was originally from Tilghman Island in the Chesapeake Bay before migrating to Dover and finally settling in Pennsylvania.

 

    He is inspired by historic black and white images, transforming a once static and unidimensional photograph into a vibrant and profound painting. For this show, Dane and Tony Boyd-Heron, Peninsula Gallery’s exhibition curator and co-owner, visited the Delaware Archives to find photographs depicting Black life from the early 1900s. Tony said of the experience, “we were disappointed by the little material showing the candid life and spirit of the African American communities in the archive.”     

 

    Dane says, “Black people played just as much a role in the life-blood of Delaware as anywhere else. The working-class individuals depicted in my work, whether they be working on the sea or on a farm, were family-oriented; they had a purpose and were here to make a mark — even if that was just to make sure there was food on their table. But I believe everybody has a purpose. These individuals probably didn’t think they would be immortalized on canvas, but they lived and served history just like anyone else.”​