View the recording of the event here!
This 2026 Lambertville Free Public Library program focused on the extraordinary discovery and restoration journey of the nearly 16’x10’ masterpiece created by George Matthews Harding in 1921, to be unveiled at the opening of the new Washington Crossing State Park Museum & Visitors Center in 2026. The program featured a talk by Washington Crossing Park Association and art conservator and Lambertville resident Christyl Cusworth about their undertaking to restore this American Impressionist mural that depicts Washington’s crossing of the Delaware in December 1776.
Biography of the Artist: George Matthews Harding was an American painter and muralist. He served as a combat artist in WWI and WWII. After WWI, Harding gained fame as a muralist and created large murals for venues such as the Post Office Department in Washington DC. The 16×10 foot “Washington Crossing the Delaware” was painted for the Taylor Opera House in Trenton in 1921, and rediscovered and restored for the new museum at Washington Crossing State Park by the Washington Crossing Park Friends Association. Harding’s experience as a combat artist can be clearly seen as a major influence in this depiction of Washington’s Army.
This program was funded by the New Jersey State Library’s REV 250: Examining the Semiquincentennial through a Jersey Lens.
