November 24, 2003
River Art at the Griswold Museum
The American River celebrates views of the Connecticut and other rivers selected by nationally recognized curators. On display until January 4, 2004 at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, will be 50 works of art juried by Carl Beltz, Director Emeritus of the Rose Museum; Jeffrey Rosenheim, Curator of Photography from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and Linda Simmons, Curator Emeritus of the Corcoran Gallery of Fine Art in Washington, DC. Organized by the Great River Arts Institute of Bellows Falls, VT (formerly of Walpole, New Hampshire), the exhibit was reviewed by American Artist Magazine.
Stephen Hannock, The Oxbow, After Church, After Cole, Flooded, 1994
Accompanying this exhibition of contemporary works, Florence Griswold Museum also presents an exhibition of river views from its own and others' collections called "The River’s Course: Views of Connecticut Rivers." This includes 27 works that explore the cultural, historical and social significance of the Connecticut, Farmington, Mystic, Thames, Lieutenant, and West rivers.
During the early years of the last century, Florence Griswold's boarding house in Old Lyme became the center of the Lyme Art Colony, noted for its depiction of the landscape around this quiet and scenic coastal village between New York and Boston. The Griswold House, built in 1817, where a succession of artists lived and painted together, is now a National Historic Landmark and a home of American Impressionism.