The Nation Makers, by Howard Pyle (1902) — Howard Pyle created compositions specifically conceived to ignite the viewer’s imagination. The Nation Makers epitomizes the artist’s spirited view of the Battle of Brandywine during the American Revolution, conveyed through energetic brushwork, dramatic contrasts of scale, cropping and strong diagonal lines Pyle employed. The Ntion Makers was painted during Pyles’s fouth summer of teaching illustration in Chads Ford in 1902. At that time, the village was preparing for the 125th aniversary of the Battle. The re-enactment of historic events in the landscape surrounding him inspired his version. Pyle considered The Nation Makers among his most important works, and between 1903 and 1908 he sent it on tour to New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Green Bay. In 1903, the publishers of Colliers Weekly secured the painting’s copyright and published it in the magazine’s June 2, 1906, issue as the frontpiece.