Label Type
Curator Pick of the MonthLabel
This self-portrait of Francis Martin Drexel and his family was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1825. Francis was the father of A.J. Drexel, the university’s founder, and had a peculiar skillset. He had succeeded as both a portrait artist and as a banker. While he had aspired to become a painter since his adolescence in Austria, Francis eventually abandoned painting in 1838 to open the Drexel Bank on Third Street. However, the love that Francis had for art influenced his children and his son, A. J. Drexel, created The Drexel Collection for the very new Drexel Institute of Science, Art and Industry in 1891.