The Mattatuck Museum is a cultural institution based in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

, USA. The museum's displays include the history, industries and culture of Waterbury and the

Central Naugatuck Valley The Central Naugatuck Valley is a region of Connecticut in New Haven and Litchfield counties located approximately northeast of New York City and southwest of Boston, United States. The region comprises 13 towns: Beacon Falls, Bethlehem, Ches ...

area, and art, including works about the state's history, people and scenery, and works of artists from Connecticut. The museum also features a collection of 15,000 buttons from around the world.

Collection

The Mattatuck Museum focuses on the work of painters and sculptors who were born and/or based in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. Its collection spans the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and the artists represented in the museum's collection include

Paolo Abbate Paolo (Paul) Salvatore Abbate (April 9, 1884 – April 1, 1973) was an Italian-born sculptor and minister who lived and worked in Connecticut. Personal life and education Paolo Abbate was born in Villarosa on the Italian island of Sicily. He ...

Abe Ajay Abraham (Abe) Ajay (1919–1998) was an American artist who was best known for his artistic contributions for '' The New Masses'' magazine during the late 1930s and early 1940s.Langa, Helen. "'At Least Half the Pages Will Consist of Pictures': New ...

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...

Frederic Church Frederic Edwin Church (May 4, 1826 – April 7, 1900) was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, best known for painting large landscapes, ...

Erastus Salisbury Field Erastus Salisbury Field (May 19, 1805 in Leverett, Massachusetts – June 28, 1900 in Sunderland, Massachusetts) was an American folk art painter of portraits, landscapes, and history pictures. Erastus Field and his twin sister, Salome, were bor ...

Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky (; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, hy, Ոստանիկ Մանուկ Ատոյեան; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of hi ...

John Frederick Kensett John Frederick Kensett (March 22, 1816 – December 14, 1872) was an American landscape painter and engraver born in Cheshire, Connecticut. He was a member of the second generation of the Hudson River School of artists. Kensett's signature works ...

, Peter Poskas,

Kay Sage Katherine Linn Sage (June 25, 1898 – January 8, 1963), usually known as Kay Sage, was an American Surrealist artist and poet active between 1936 and 1963. A member of the Golden Age and Post-War periods of Surrealism, she is mostly recognized f ...

Yves Tanguy Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy (January 5, 1900 – January 15, 1955), known as just Yves Tanguy (, ), was a French surrealist painter. Biography Tanguy, the son of a retired navy captain, was born January 5, 1900, at the Ministry of Naval Aff ...

and John Trumbull.“Mattatuck Museum receives tourism grant,” Town Times, September 11, 2008
The museum also highlights the commercial and cultural achievements related to the city of Waterbury. This includes a collection of 15,000 buttons, which was donated to the museum by the now-defunct Button Museum operated by the Waterbury Button Company. In 2008, the museum began offering self-guided tours of downtown Waterbury that highlight the city’s distinctive architectural achievements. The museum also features a regional history exhibit that uses interactive displays, oral histories and historic movie clips to trace the past and present of Waterbury and the surrounding areas in

New Haven County, Connecticut New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, New ...

. The museum supports ongoing artistic achievement with its Connecticut Biennial, a competition that is open to artists who maintain a residence or a studio within the state. The biennial competition awards include products and gift certificates from local businesses.

The remains of Fortune

In 1999, the museum received national attention regarding one of its collection items: the skeleton of a man. The skeleton was believed to date from the late 18th century and was named "Larry," as that name was written on its skull. Fortune's bones were donated by the McGlannon family in the 1930s who had ancestral ties to the slave owner Dr. Preserved Porter. Fortune was on display in a glass case until 1970, when he was removed from public viewing. During the time of his display at the museum there was no information regarding who he truly was - his remains were seen as a teaching tool.“Hidden Museum Treasures: Fortune's Bones 18th-Century Slave Gets New Life, New Recognition,” National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, September 16, 2003
/ref> An investigation in the late 1990s by the African-American History Project Committee determined that he was an enslaved black man named Fortune who died in 1798. The museum created a special exhibit in honor of Fortune that detailed the lives of African-American slaves in Waterbury during the early part of the 19th century. Fortune was buried in

Riverside Cemetery (Waterbury, Connecticut) Riverside Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 496 Riverside Street in Waterbury, Connecticut on the western bank of the Naugatuck River. Dedicated on September 24, 1853, it is in size and includes winding tree-lined paths, upper and ...

on September 13, 2013.

References

External links

* {{authority control Museums in New Haven County, Connecticut Art museums and galleries in Connecticut History museums in Connecticut Buildings and structures in Waterbury, Connecticut Museums of American art Fashion museums in the United States