Lyman Allyn Museum
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The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is located in
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...
and was founded in 1926 by Lyman Allyn's daughter Harriet Upson Allyn."Our Mission"
on the Lyman Allyn Art Museum website
Its collection includes European and non-Western art as well as American fine and decorative art, 17th-century European works on paper, 19th-century American paintings, and contemporary art. The museum also conducts educational programs. The Deshon-Allyn House on the museum's campus is a Federal style house built in 1829 by Daniel Deshon, sold to Lyman Allyn, and occupied by various members of his family. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.


History

The Lyman Allyn Art Museum was founded with a bequest from Harriet Upson Allyn, who died on November 30, 1926. She made the bequest in memory of her father Lyman Allyn, a wealthy shipping merchant, to be used to create a new park and museum, a place for local citizens to learn about art and culture.''Hartford Courant'', May 11, 1930, page 64. Land for the project was purchased in 1927. Landscape architect Ferruccio Vitale designed the park, and architect
Charles A. Platt Charles Adams Platt (October 16, 1861 – September 12, 1933) was a prominent American architect, garden designer, and artist of the "American Renaissance" movement. His garden designs complemented his domestic architecture. Early career Pai ...
designed the 32,000 square-foot neoclassical museum, built with local granite. In May 1930, Winslow Ames was chosen to be the museum's first Director at age 22. The museum was dedicated on the evening of May 2, 1932 with Connecticut Governor
Wilbur Lucius Cross Wilbur Lucius Cross (April 10, 1862 – October 5, 1948) was an American literary critic who served as the 71st governor of Connecticut from 1931 to 1939. Biography Born in 1862 in Mansfield, Connecticut, Cross attended Natchaug School in Wil ...
as the principal speaker, and the museum opened to the public the following day.''Hartford Courant'', March 3, 1932, page 13.


Collection

Lyman Allyn's permanent collection consists of approximately 10,000 objects. Much of this collection was developed by the Museum's first Director Winslow Ames, who acquired works dating from the 16th through the 19th centuries. It includes the graphite ''Study for Madame Moitessier'' standing by
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic orthodoxy against the ...
, as well as works by
Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...
, François Boucher, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Charles LeBrun, and
Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...
. Featured artists include
Rembrandt Peale Rembrandt Peale (February 22, 1778 – October 3, 1860) was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Peale's style w ...
,
Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...
, Gilbert Stuart, John Trumbull,
Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history painti ...
,
Frederick Edwin Church Frederic Edwin Church (May 4, 1826 – April 7, 1900) was an American landscape painting, landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, best known for paintin ...
, and
Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not ...
.


American art

The Lyman Allyn's collection of 19th-century American paintings ranges from the
Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area ...
to the Aesthetic Movement and
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
.
Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history painti ...
’s ''Mount Aetna from Taormina'' (1844), Frederic Edwin Church’s ''Study for New England Scenery'' (1850), and
John F. 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 ...
’s oval ''Bash Bish Falls'' (1851) are examples of the Hudson River School, while
Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...
’s tile painting ''The Shepherdess'' (1878) is an example of his work with the Tile Club. These American works are frequently requested for loan exhibitions and for reproduction in scholarly articles and exhibition catalogues. The museum also holds a collection of eighteenth-century American paintings, works on paper, and decorative arts, most notably silver and furniture. The core of this collection consists of John Singleton Copley’s three studies for ''The Siege of Gibraltar'' (c.1785-86), two works by
Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...
, and
Winthrop Chandler Winthrop Chandler (6 April 1747 – 29 July 1790) was an American artist known for his portraits, mainly of family members and neighbors, and a few landscapes. He also worked as an ornamental artist. Life Chandler was born on the family farm, ...
’s portrait of ''Eunice Huntington Devotion and Her Daughter'' (1772). There is also an eighteenth-century New England furniture collection, including many examples of
New London County New London County is in the southeastern corner of Connecticut and comprises the Norwich-New London, Connecticut Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut Combined Statistical Area. There i ...
’s unique regional variations. New London County furniture has been the focus of a comprehensive exhibition at the Lyman Allyn in 1974 and smaller, focused exhibitions in 1986 and 1999.


Further reading

* ''Handbook of the Lyman Allyn Museum'' (New Haven CT: Eastern Press, Inc., 1976). * Stula, Nancy and Steiner, Christopher. ''American Artists Abroad and their Inspiration: Selections from the Lyman Allyn Art Museum'' (2004).


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control Connecticut College Buildings and structures in New London, Connecticut Museums in New London County, Connecticut Art museums and galleries in Connecticut Art museums established in 1926 1926 establishments in Connecticut Tourist attractions in New London, Connecticut