An important exhibition of sporting and wildlife paintings, drawings and sculpture, on loan from the Genesee Museum in Mumford, New York, will be on view at Pebble Hill Plantation, the historical plantation and Museum located in Thomasville, GA, November 3, 2017 – April 29, 2018. “Wild in the Country” will present the ‘Big Four’ – arguably the four most influential wildlife artists of the 19th and 20th century -- Bruno Liljefors, Wilhelm Kuhnhert, Carl Rungius and Bob Kuhn. These four painters changed wildlife painting, transforming the genre into an art form filled with sweeping and innovative portrayals of the natural world. Both the Genesee Museum and Pebble Hill Plantation are regarded as two of the nation's premiere galleries of Sporting Art. The Loan Exhibition from the Genesee Museum is the first in a new program of exhibitions that Pebble Hill Plantation will host from associated museum and art institutions in the United States.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to host this wonderful exhibition from the Genesee Museum here at the Pebble Hill Plantation,” comments Whitney White, Executive Director of Pebble Hill Plantation. “These seminal artists were responsible for pushing the boundaries of traditional wildlife painting, and have inspired artists and art lovers to the present day. It is an extraordinary opportunity for art lovers in the region to see these works in Southwest Georgia with the backdrop of Pebble Hill.”

Pebble Hill Plantation’s Artistic Legacy

Dating from the 1820s, Pebble Hill Plantation is the historic Gilded Age hunting retreat of the prominent and socially conscious Howard Melville (Mel) Hanna Family of Cleveland, Ohio, who acquired the property in 1896. Hanna gave Pebble Hill to his daughter Kate Benedict Hanna Ireland Harvey who owned it until 1936, and converted it into a hunting retreat. She then bequeathed it to her daughter Elisabeth (Pansy) Ireland Poe, one of the twentieth century’s most renowned sportswomen. Mrs. Poe owned PHP until 1978.  She coupled her interest in equestrian activities with her interest in fine art to amass one of the nation’s most outstanding collections of Sporting Art.  With an excellent eye for quality and the ability to select the very best that came on the market, Mrs. Poe decided that Pebble Hill was to become a museum upon her death. In 1956, she formed the Pebble Hill Foundation anticipating the creation of Pebble Hill Plantation as a museum open to the public. This transition happened following her death in 1978; the foundation has managed and maintained the plantation ever since.

While the plantation is steeped in the culture and tradition of a hunting estate, the magnificent 26,000 square foot neo-classical structure is filled with fine art, antique furniture, superb porcelain and fine china, crystal, silver and other artifacts collected by the owners.

The family’s thoughtful choices and faithful stewardship have allowed Pebble Hill to continue as a vibrant link to the historic plantation era and the sporting lifestyle which continues to defines this region.