Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground. ~Alexander Pope

One of the most prestigious awards in the arts was given this past May to a man who has made an enormous contribution to the United States in the areas of art and preservation. George A. Weymouth became the fourteenth recipient of Winterthur’s Henry Francis du Pont Award, which recognizes an individual who has made contributions of national significance to the knowledge, preservation and enjoyment of the decorative arts, architecture, landscape design and gardens. Winterthur, now a museum, was du Pont’s delaware estate.
Weymouth, a native of Wilmington, De., is well known in Washington for his service on the Commission of Fine Arts and for being selected

by NASA to paint at Cape Kennedy during the first moon launch. His achievements include awards given for community service, preservation of lands, environmental vision and education of the public to be conscientious stewards of the land and its history. However, his greatest gift to the nation is without doubt the creation of the Brandywine Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental and cultural organization that oversees the protection of 40,000 acres in Pennsylvania and Delaware. In founding the Brandywine Conservancy and subsequently the Brandywine River Museum over 40 years ago he set an example that inspired many land conservation groups throughout the nation.
Weymouth is a talented painter whose works are represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Delaware Art Museum and the collection of HRH Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle. A past president of the Coaching Club of America, Weymouth is also known as a four-in-hand whip who appears regularly at national and international coaching events driving his Parke Drag drawn by a beautiful team of four bay hackneys. Standing along the carriage routes, spectators could easily take him for a wealthy bon-vivant, but those who care about the preservation of America’s natural beauty know that the well-dressed patrician who passes by with a twinkle in his eye is in reality one of the most visionary men in America.