20th anniversary of Hartford Steam Boiler donation
In 2001, The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company donated its art collection of 190 works to the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this transformative gift, the museum presents “Expanding Horizons: Celebrating 20 Years of the Hartford Steam Boiler Collection” through May 23.
The exhibition features highlights from the collection with an emphasis on new methods of research and interpretation. Commemorating these past 20 years, 20 leading art historians have re-examined 20 works through the lenses of environmental art history, material culture, landscape studies and issues of identity, such as gender and race.
The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company’s gift marked an unprecedented milestone in the museum’s history. As the home of the Lyme Art Colony based at Florence Griswold’s boardinghouse, the museum’s collection prior to receiving the gift had focused on examples by American Tonalist and Impressionist artists who had painted on its grounds at the turn of the 20th century. With the Hartford Steam Boiler’s gift, the scope of the museum’s collection broadened, both geographically and chronologically, to include artists working in every corner of Connecticut from the 18th- to the mid-20th century.
While landscape was the preferred subject of most Lyme Colony artists, the Hartford Steam Boiler Collection brought a variety of other canonical American works painted by Connecticut artists working in other locations.
The Flo Gris is located at 96 Lyme St. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Sun. (from January-March, hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.Sat. and 1-4 p.m. Sun. Admission is $10 adults, $9 seniors, $8 students, free to ages 12 and under. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance at www. FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org.