John Donohue’s drawing of Mad Anthony Wayne Café at the Wayne train station is one of 21 Main Line prints for sale at LAA Art Collective in downtown Wayne, Nov. 6–12. A portion of the proceeds benefits CHOP.
If you saw a man leaning on a lamppost along Lancaster Avenue this past summer, pen in hand, staring intently at a Main Line restaurant, he wasn’t just another local sketcher.
It was John Donohue, a former New Yorker editor and cartoonist turned acclaimed restaurant artist, doing his thing.
Give Donohue 20 minutes, and he’ll have White Dog, Carina Sorella or Christopher’s on paper, in ink, with no corrections. He’s done it more than 1,600 times since 2017.
“All the Restaurants” artist John Donohue at work. He usually leans on a mailbox or lamppost so passersby don’t bump him. “It’s fun to get recognized, but I’d rather just be left alone,” he says.
He started in his hometown, New York City, where he now gets stopped on the street. Since then, he has drawn his way through Paris, London, Napa, Philadelphia and beyond. Abrams has published three coffee-table books of his work.
This past summer, he drew the facades of 20 Main Line restaurants, plus the Anthony Wayne Theater. Most are in Wayne, but the collection stretches from Ardmore and Havertown to Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Radnor and Villanova.
Beginning this Friday, Nov. 6, you can buy them at LAA Art Collective in Wayne. Each signed 12×12 print is $95, and a portion of the proceeds goes to CHOP.
“They’re really great if you want to put up a gallery wall,” Donohue says.
Gallery owner Lauren Addis invited him after seeing his Philadelphia collection, which also benefited CHOP. Donohue is no stranger to the area: his wife, documentary filmmaker Sarah Schenck, is a Bryn Mawr College alum.
He chose CHOP out of gratitude. “They were really helpful to my family [during the pandemic], so I have a personal connection to the hospital. … It’s not random,” Donohue tells SAVVY. “I’ve always had a charity component to the work.”
A largely self-taught artist, Donohue learned by sketching sleeping subway riders on his commute. To this day, he draws his dish rack every night.
“It’s an automatic still life,” he says. “It’s like doing scales as a musician. It actually puts me in a better mood.”
The dish racks didn’t sell. “Nobody really wants to buy a dish rack,” he admits.
Restaurants were another story. “The food media world’s a little insatiable,” he says. “Let me see what happens if I put restaurant drawings out there — and it just kind of took off.”
Besides, he says, “These places hold our stories — first dates, anniversaries, meals that changed everything.”
Donahue’s drawing of Rosalie at the Wayne Hotel is one of 21 prints for sale Nov. 6 -12 at LAA Art Collective in Wayne.
An alphabetical listing of John Donohue’s Main Line work: 333 Belrose Bar & Grill, Anthony Wayne Theater, Autograph Brasserie, Carina Sorella, Char & Stave, Christopher’s: A Neighborhood Place, Cornerstone & The Wine Shop at Cornerstone, Gryphon Cafe, Hope’s Cookies, Johnny’s Pizza Bryn Mawr, Mad Anthony Wayne Cafe, Otto by Polpo, Plant Roots and The Bookery Coffeehouse, Roache & O’Brien, Rosalie, Teresa’s Cafe and Next Door, The Grog Grill, The Refectory, The Silverspoon, Tredici Italian Market and White Dog Cafe Wayne.
John Donohue’s Main Line show and sale launches this Friday, Nov. 6, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at LAA Art Collective, 122 E. Lancaster Ave., Wayne, with complimentary sips and snacks from local eateries. The sale continues at the gallery and online through Nov. 12. See more of Donohue’s work at AllTheRestaurants.com and on Instagram at @eat.draw.repeat.
Leave your Comment