Our day started with a good amount of anxiety because we had never visited an art museum. We were both wondering how the day would progress. We drove to the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut. It was a sunny cold early spring day. As we drove into the parking lot we were surprised to see a large white contemporary building nestled behind a very classical colonial home.
It was very quiet and not many cars in the parking lot. The few cars that were in the parking lot all had license plates from New York.

Florence Griswold died in 1937 and her belongings were sold at auction. In 1941 the Florence Griswold Association purchased the house and in 1947 The Florence Griswold Museum opened to the public.

My husband and I learned a great deal about the history of the artist that stayed with Florence Griswold. It is truly an amazing history lesson.
There was one artist by the name of Harry Hoffman who stayed with Florence. He first came to Old Lyme in 1902 with his friend Arthur Heming. Florence did not normally invite students into her home at the request of the artist; however, Harry was quickly welcomed into the colony. He met his future wife, Beatrice Pope, when they were staying at the house. After they were married they settled in Old Lyme and raised their son John L. Hoffman.
The piece that I was drawn to was Bridging the Lieutenant, 1906. It is oil on canvas and is a view of Bow Bridge. The bridge spanned the Lieutenant River not far from the Griswold House. Hoffman was an American Impressionist and this piece is said to have an influence of Japanese prints.

Hoffman was a man with strong academic art training, Harry Hoffman was judged by his peers to have done best with his landscapes when he painted what he saw and set aside the theories. He studied in Paris, worked at Yale University with John Ferguson Weir, and was a student at the Art Students League with Frank DuMond. But Willard Metcalf had the strongest influence, encouraging Hoffman to paint in the style of impressionism (BIOGRAPHY for Harry Hoffman)

The experience left Jerry and I with a new interest and appreciation for art. We were looking forward to our next musuem experience.