caption death_date death_place birth_place birth_date image article_title name
'' vonnoh , 1893 , oil on canvas , 50 ⅛ portrait × 40 ⅛ & nbsp ; in -lrb- 128 × of 103 & nbsp ; cm -rrb- edward h. coates '' . robert 23 december 1921 philadelphia , pennsylvania , united states philadelphia , pennsylvania , united states 12 november 1846 edward_hornor_coates . jpg edward hornor coates
 edward hornor coates
edward hornor coates

edward hornor coates -lrb- november 12 , 1846 -- december 23 , 1921 -rrb- was a philadelphia businessman , financier , and patron of the arts and sciences .
he served as director of the mechanics national bank in 1873 , was chairman of the committee on instruction at the pennsylvania academy of the fine arts from 1883 to 1890 , and subsequently held the position of academy president from 1890 to 1906 .
it was during his position as chairman that mr. coates commissioned `` the swimming hole '' from thomas eakins , only later to reject it .
painter john mclure hamilton , in a piece about mr. coates from hamilton 's book '' '' -lrb- 1921 -rrb- , describes mr. coates ' time at the academy : the reign of mr. coates at the academy marked the period of its greatest prosperity .
rich endowments were made to the schools , a gallery of national portraiture was formed , and some of the best examples of gilbert stuart 's work acquired .
the annual exhibitions attained a brilliancy and éclat hitherto unknown ... mr. coates wisely established the schools upon a conservative basis , building almost unconsciously the dykes high against the oncoming flow of insane novelties in art patterns ... in this last struggle against modernism the president was ably supported by eakins , anschutz , grafly , thouron , vonnoh , and chase ... his unfailing courtesy , his disinterested thoughtfulness , his tactfulness , and his modesty endeared him to scholars and masters alike .
no sacrifice of time or of means was too great , if he thought he could accomplish the end he always had in view -- the honour and the glory of the academy .
in 1890 , mr. coates was among the signatories of the `` independent republicans of pennsylvania '' who urged for the election of the democratic nominee robert e. pattison for governor over the republican nominee , george w. delamater .
a vote for delamater , they stressed , would mean `` the public indorsement '' of the corrupt matthew stanley quay , then junior senator of the state of pennsylvania .
pattison would go on to win the governorship .
in 1894 , mr. coates joined the ranks of the `` quaker city rebels '' in the continued fight against mr. quay and corrupt `` bossism '' politics .
mr. coates was the son of joseph potts hornor coates and eliza henri troth .
he married first ella may potts in 1872 .
ella may died on 9 may 1874 at the age of 22 .
mr. coates later wed florence earle coates in 1879 , daughter of prominent philadelphia lawyer , george h. earle , sr. .
this was also a second marriage for florence , whose first husband -- william nicholson -- died in 1877 after only five years of marriage .
mr. coates would eventually adopt florence 's daughter from her first marriage -- alice earle nicholson .
florence and edward had one child together in 1881 , but the baby -- josephine wisner coates -- died in infancy .
the coates ' resided first in a home in germantown , pennsylvania -- `` willing terrace '' -- where they lived and entertained until about 1908 .
one of their guests was literary and social critic matthew arnold , whom they would host during his stays in philadelphia .
mrs. coates was both inspired and encouraged by mr. arnold to pursue her interest in writing poetry .
this interest would eventually lead to the subsequent publishing of nearly three-hundred poems in the leading magazines of her day , as well as five volumes of collected verse .
the coates ' later removed to a victorian townhome on spruce street in philadelphia where they resided for the remainder of their lives together .
the coates ' often spent their summer months in the adirondacks , where they maintained `` camp elsinore '' -- their summer camp by the upper st. regis lake .
it was there that they entertained , rested and escaped the humidity of philadelphia summers .
many of mrs. coates ' nature poems were inspired by the flora and fauna of the adirondacks .
edward coates died on 23 december 1921 .
his funeral service was held at the coates ' spruce street home three days later , and he was buried at the church of the redeemer -lrb- episcopal -rrb- churchyard in bryn mawr , pennsylvania .
the inscription on mr. coates ' headstone reads , `` high thought seated in a heart of courtesy '' -- sir phillip sydney 's description of an honorable man and gentleman .
in 1923 , mrs. coates presented `` the edward h. coates memorial collection '' to the pennsylvania academy of the fine arts in philadelphia .
the collection included paintings by robert vonnoh -lrb- to include the portrait of mr. coates shown above -rrb- , a portrait of mrs. coates painted by violet oakley in 1912 entitled `` the tragic muse '' , and a portrait bust of mr. coates sculpted by charles grafly .
twenty-five other paintings from various artists , as well as two other pieces of sculpture , were also included in the collection .
the collection was placed on exhibit at the academy from 4 november 1923 to 10 january 1924 .
