Hardcastle Gallery

Specialties

Hardcastle Galleries is a full service fine art gallery serving the Brandywine Valley and surrounding region. We provide art consultation, custom framing and installation services for the home as well as corporate and institutional locations.

History

Established in 1888.

George Hardcastle & Sons, Inc., the art supply and frame shop, was established in Wilmington, Delaware in 1888. In 1946, ownership was assumed by Bayard T. Berndt, a well-​known local artist, and his brother-​in-​law Ray Coakley. Berndt invited local painters to display their works in his Shipley Street store, establishing Delaware’s first art gallery.

Now with two locations — one in Centreville, Delaware and the other in downtown Newark — Hardcastle Gallery remains a haven for artists who follow the «Brandywine School» of painting originated by renowned artist Howard Pyle. Today, many artists, including W. James McGlynn and C. Phillip Wikoff, fondly remember Berndt for his encouragement of established and budding artists. Berndt’s philosophy has been continued through the years, as his son David took ownership of the gallery until 2011 when Michael and Lynn Brock assumed ownership. Michael has managed the Newark gallery since 1999 and has been an artist in the local area since 1964.

Meet the Business Owner

Michael B.

Business Owner

Michael was born in Pennsylvania in 1946 and has resided in Delaware since 1972 with his wife, Lynn and their children. A self-​taught artist, he has been painting and selling his work since 1964. Several years of flying helicopters for the military, including gunships in Vietnam, appeared to have changed Michael’s attention from art to aviation. However, in 1975 his first new work was selected in a juried exhibit at the Delaware Art Museum. Since then he has endeavored to further his painting skills, working primarily in oils on canvas. In 1980 Michael was given his first one-​man show at the Chadds Ford Gallery. He has subsequently exhibited in other one man and group exhibitions throughout the region. His paintings hang in many corporate and private collections, to include the White House. Michael began managing the Hardcastle’s Newark gallery in 1999. He and his wife Lynn purchased the Newark location in 2007 and the Centerville gallery in 2011.