Northwest Connecticut’s Influence And Images

Explored In Mattatuck Museum’s Current Exhibition

WATERBURY — More than 250 artists worked in the Litchfield Hills before 1940. Many of the earliest artists arrived with the development of the tourism industry in the 19th Century. The artists were attracted to the picturesque elevations and the visual ideal of the rural life.

By the 1870s the artists began buying summer homes, returning to New York City in the winter. When those artists retired, many moved into the Connecticut region for good.

To a greater extent than in art colonies elsewhere in the United States, the artists of the Litchfield Hills bought homes in the countryside and became active members of local communities while at the same time remaining leaders in metropolitan art markets.

Many of the Litchfield Hills artists organized successful art associations. Kent Art Association’s first annual exhibition in 1923 drew an audience of roughly 600; Lime Rock Art Association’s first exhibition in 1927 attracted a crowd of 400 on its opening day. Many of the artists attracted students from the cities of the eastern United States for summer art schools, particularly in Cornwall, New Milford and Litchfield. Ernest Lawson and Guy Pène du Bois conducted summer art classes during the Depression in Norwalk.

The artists also had a lasting impact on the towns in northwestern Connecticut. Many resident artists assisted in charitable and cultural enterprises in their towns, working on preservation projects and serving as selectmen or members of boards of cultural organizations such as local libraries and Music Mountain in Lakeville. They also laid the foundation for the continuing lively presence of visual and performing artists in the region throughout the 20th Century.

Celebrating the monumental work produced during that era and the profound influence of the landscape on the artists who arrived in the Litchfield Hills, The Mattatuck Museum is presenting “Picture Perfect: Images of Northwest Connecticut” until September 18. The exhibit features paintings created in the Litchfield Hills by prominent American artists including Fedelia Bridges, Emil Carlson, Jasper Cropsey, Ralph Earl, Lillian Genth, E.L. Henry, David Johnson, Homer Dodge Martin, Willard Metcalf, Henry Siddons Mowbray, Robert Nisbet, William Trost Richards, A.H. Wyant, and the aforementioned Lawson and du Bois, among others.

The exhibition offers works by 30 artists in all, and details the history of the region. Subjects include scenes from Kent, Litchfield, New Milford, Salisbury, Sharon, and Washington. Many of the works have never been exhibited in this area before.

While the exhibition includes portraits, genre scenes and still lifes, the essence of the story of the artists in northwest Connecticut is about the landscape. Drawn away from the sooty industrialization of the cities to the serenity of life in the bucolic northwestern Connecticut towns of Canaan, Sharon, Washington and the like, many artists took up residence in these towns inspired not only by the beauty inherent in the sweeping vistas, but also the peace-filled natural world they were surrounded by.

The exhibition additionally includes a computer kiosk with over 200 images of artworks created in the region before 1940 – a level of activity that has not been recognized previously – organized by town.

The 31 paintings on view have been loaned from museums and private collections from around the country including Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Cleveland Museum of Art. The exhibition is accompanied by a major new publication by Robert Austin which presents new research about the extent of artistic activity in the hills of northwest Connecticut.

Mr Austin’s book, Artists of The Litchfield Hills (Mattatuck Historical Society; 136 pages, $32 soft cover, $45 hard cover), represents ten years of research into the artistic legacy of northwest Connecticut. Mr Austin has identified more than 250 artists who found inspiration in the majestic scenery and quaint villages of the Litchfield Hills.

Artists of The Litchfield Hills is a chronological history of the development of the artists’ colonies in the towns of Falls Village, Kent, Lime Rock and Washington, with 115 illustrations, many in color, of works created within these towns. Mr Austin, himself an artist, describes personal stories of the artists as well as their aesthetic influences in his book.

In addition to the main exhibition at The Mattatuck Museum, a series of related exhibits have been curated and are on view in eight surrounding Litchfield County towns. The satellite exhibits, presented at museums and historical societies, examine artist colonies through the region at the turn of the century, connect the artists’ work with specific places in the region, and provide historical background about the region.

The satellite exhibitions and details are as follows:

*“Picture Perfect Bethlehem: Lauren Ford,” at Bethlehem Historical Society (Main Street; telephone 203-266-8996) until August 31, shows the work of Ms Ford (1891-1973), a prominent illustrator who created Christmas scenes set in Bethlehem that became nationally known;

*“Picture Perfect Cornwall: James Henry Moser,” at Cornwall Free Library (30 Pine Street; 860-672-6874) until August 31, shows work by the renowned artist (1854-1913), including images of African-American life in the south following the Civil War. Moser spent summers with his in-laws the Scovilles in Cornwall, painting the countryside for 30 years.

*“Picture Perfect Litchfield: Deming, Van Laer and VanderPoel,” at Litchfield Historical Society (7 South Street, on the green; 860-567-4501) until November 30, is an exhibition of landscapes by three turn of the century Litchfield artists – Adelaide Deming, Emily VanderPoel and Alexander T. Van Laer. Successful artists in New York, these three attracted sizeable crowds to their summer exhibits of the gardens and landscapes of Litchfield’s golden era. The exhibit includes archival materials relating to their exhibits and activities in Litchfield.

*“Picture Perfect New Milford: Edith Newton,” at New Milford Historical Society (6 Aspetuck Avenue; 860-354-3609) until October 1, features drawings, paintings and artifacts of the printmaker who catalogued the streetscapes of the village and its surrounding countryside in charming detail.

*“Picture Perfect Kent: George Laurence Nelson,” at Kent Historical Society (Seven Hearths, Route 7; 860-927-3008) until September 1, offers the work of Nelson and the new Nelson Gallery. The artist, a prize-winning portrait painter and member of National Academy of Design, left his home, studio and gardens to Kent Historical Society.

*“Picture Perfect Washington: John Folinsbee,” at Gunn Historical Museum (5 Wykeham Road; 860-868-7756) until October 12, presents work by Folinsbee (1892-1940), who later became a member of the art colony in New Hope, Penn. The artist first arrived in Washington as a student at The Gunnery and married a daughter of the local Baldwin family.

(“Picture Perfect Woodbury: Natalie Van Vleck,” at Flanders Nature Center, with work by the world traveler who established a model farm and pursued her artistic interest in the natural world, closed July 31.)

The project’s website is www.LitchfieldHillsArtTrail.org.

The Mattatuck Museum, at 144 West Main Street in Waterbury, can be contacted at 203-753-0381.