"Connecticut Seen/Connecticut Scene"

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Mattatuck Museum

Waterbury, CT…. The Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center will open an exhibit unique to Connecticut on January 17. "Connecticut Seen/Connecticut Scene" will explore the evolving view of nature in nineteenth century Connecticut. Guest Curator Ann Y. Smith will be showcasing paintings from the state's premier mid-size art museums, including the Mattatuck Museum, The New Britain Museum of American Art, The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, the Lyman Allyn Museum in New London, and the Bruce Museum in Greenwich.

A special publication that will serve as a permanent record of the exhibit has been made possible by a grant from the David T. Langrock Foundation.

Paintings of Connecticut from this century bear a lot of cultural significance. The earliest landscape artists celebrated the natural wonders of the new continent and the new nation. They believe that God's handiwork was to be experienced in the close observation of nature. By the second half of the 19^th century, however, increasing industrialization and urbanization led to a new image of nature as a place of contemplation, nostalgia and moody retreat. By the end of the 19^th century, changes in the economy that focused on tourism, plus the more portable methods of painting, fostered the development of art colonies throughout the state where stylish painters created images in the Impressionist style.

As Connecticut changed, so did the perspective of artists painting the landscapes. The exhibit will help viewers trace the changing style of artists, as well as the altered landscape as rural farms gave way to urbanization and industrialization.

The exhibit will feature paintings of Connecticut scenes from artists such as John Kensett, George Durrie, Worthington Whittridge, and a selection of impressionist paintings from the coastal art colonies, including works by J. Alden Weir, Bruce Crane and Childe Hassam.

The exhibit opens on January 20, 2006, with a special reception on February 9, 2006 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.. The show continues through March 29, 2006.

The Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center is located at 144 West Main Street, Waterbury, with convenient parking on Park Place directly behind the museum. For more information about this exhibit, the collections or other programs at the museum, please visit the website at www.MattatuckMuseum.org or call 203-753-0381 x. 10.