Thom and I drove up to see Randy in Connecticut, shaking up our mid-week retirement routine. Here they are on the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum.
Sometimes, when you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth, it falls out. After the death of her well-to-do parents and siblings, Florence, who never married, had to take in boarders to maintain the family estate in Old Lyme. An artist among them brought his friends and a colony was born. The good kind.
Florence sat for some of the painters, too.
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| "Front Parlor" by William Chadwick (ca 1905-08) |
The rose wall paper reminded me of Hill House. Much of the decor has been re-created, based on photos, rather than preserved.
Childe Hassam, who had his own studio on the property, is perhaps the best known colony member. He decorated a hearth with a fox hunting scene in which he appears bare-chested at an easel.
A gallery on the top floor exhibits artists in the museum's collection. I don't usually think of Americans as impressionists.
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| Brook at Old Lyme by Maurice Braun (ca 1923) |
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| Fish Houses, Monhegan Island, Maine by Will Howe Foote (20th Century) |
The museum's trustees have continued the colony tradition with an artist-in-residence program.
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| From the Legacy Series by Ann Chernow (ca 1992) |
Dana Sherwood has produced some truly unusual work.
The museum's gardens are so lush, you wouldn't expect the flower arrangements indoors to be fake.
Certainly not the Scottish way!
A mother and daughter found a secluded spot along the Lieutenant River to sketch.
Fruit orchards on the museum grounds also provided income for Florence.
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