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Connecticut Treasures:
Works from Private Collections

July 2- September 19 , 2010

Photos from the Members' Preview party, July 1.

 

 

 

 

Much of the state’s rich artistic heritage is privately held; these works have been cherished and preserved by their owners, often over several generations. By drawing upon private collections, Connecticut Treasures opens the door to a diverse selection of art works, many of which have never before been publicly exhibited. Connecticut Treasures comprises over sixty works in a variety of media, including painting, works on paper, and sculpture, all reflecting the diversity of Connecticut’s contributions to American art and the beneficence of its patrons over the past two centuries.

The state’s early contributions to American art highlight the natural beauty of the region’s landscape. George Henry Durrie’s snow scenes like Winter Landscape with Horse-Drawn Sleigh, ca. 1863, laid the groundwork for New England’s regional identification with winter in the American imagination. Well-known Hudson River School painter John Frederick Kensett resisted the grandiose and sublime Western and South American landscapes of his colleagues, choosing more intimate scenes like Rhode Island Meadow. Landscapes painted in the Tonalist style, which originated in the nineteenth century, recall the early aspirations of the Lyme Art Colony, led by Henry Ward Ranger.

The artistic communities that developed in Connecticut, here in Old Lyme and elsewhere in the state, eventually fostered the development of American Impressionism. This new movement, adapted from France and exemplified in the work of Willard Metcalf and Wilson Henry Irvine, flourished in this country, remaining popular with collectors to this day. Not only is the Museum’s latest acquisition, Kalmia (1905), by Willard Metcalf an excellent example of American Impressionism, it demonstrates how an artwork, held privately for generations, has made its way back to the public. The Museum recently purchased this painting of blossoming mountain laurel along the banks of the Lieutenant River. It had been in one family for over 70 years and came with its original bill of sale from 1934. Kalmia is one of the most significant paintings Metcalf completed during his time at the Lyme Art Colony. It was much celebrated during his lifetime, but was somehow lost to the public. With its purchase by the Florence Griswold Museum, the painting joins the largest public collection of Metcalf’s work. “Kalmia is an iconic image of Old Lyme and a magnificent example of America Impressionism,” states Jeffrey Andersen, director of the Florence Griswold Museum. “Perhaps because of Kalmia, mountain laurel became a much painted motif within the Lyme Art Colony. Kalmia is a picture that people coming to the Museum will find tremendous pleasure in.”

During the twentieth century, Connecticut artists continued to thrive as modernism took root. New Haven grew into a center for contemporary art at mid-century, led by Josef Albers from his teaching post at Yale University. Experimental styles of painting and sculpture emerged from the many rural barns converted to studios by ambitious young artists. Works by Milton Avery, Alexander Calder, and Sol LeWitt, who are represented in the exhibition, underscore the vitality of Connecticut as a center for the arts.

Connecticut Treasures reflects the Museum’s ongoing commitment to engaging the public with Connecticut’s artistic heritage. “Private collections are a trove of fresh and unusual material. While visitors will recognize some familiar names, we hope the exhibition will introduce them as well to artists they might not previously have associated with Connecticut,” said Curator Amy Kurtz Lansing. “Without the willingness of private lenders to share their collections, we would not be able to make these sorts of connections,” she added. “A perfect example of this is Louis Paul Dessar’s The Young Mother. Dessar was a member of the Lyme Art Colony, known for depicting toiling farmers in tones of golden brown. The Young Mother, completed in France a decade before he came to Old Lyme, reveals another side of the artist with its domestic subject matter and Impressionist palette of pinks and purples.”

 

Emil Carlsen (1853–1932), Cherry Tree, ca. 1910. Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches. Collection of Jonathan L. Cohen

Willard Metcalf, Kalmia, 1905. Oil on canvas, 34 x 34 inches, Museum Purchase.

Louis Paul Dessar, The Young Mother, n.d. Oil on canvas, 38 1/2 x 29 inches Collection of Jeffrey and Betsey Cooley.

Daniel Putnam Brinley, Colonial Church, Danbury, Connecticut, 1910. Oil on canvas, 32 1/2 x 25 1/4 inches. Private collection.