A Sunday visit to Wadsworth Museum

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT Hello Everyone, My first outing on this experience was to the Wadsworth Atheneum this Sunday. Unfortunately, due to work commitments I didn’t make it to the Yale British Art Gallery as originally planned on Friday and hope to make the lecture in the coming weeks. Bill and Brittany came with me for the outing on this windy Sunday. There was plenty of free street parking and no lines or crowds of people in the museum. We strolled through three floors of art. A large part of the museum is closed due to renovations. Please remember you have to stay at the minimum “an arm’s length way from the paintings” so I was told by one guard when pointing out stroke and color in one of the paintings to Bill. I wish my granddaughter was with us because her arms are a lot shorter than mine. After getting lost and found in the museum I want to thank Annmarie, another of the guards, for helping me find my way. There was one gentleman, in particular, who I approached to ask about some of the paintings. Since he looked so distinguished and knowledgeable standing in one of the galleries I thought he was a curator or someone who had an important job at the museum. To my chagrin he exclaimed that he was sorry he couldn’t be more helpful because he didn’t work for the museum. I am so glad he took my case of mistaken identity as a compliment. We did miss the tour but was happy to be able to view Monet’s Water Lilies exhibit. To my surprise my favorite was Monet’s The Japanese Bridge paintings that were part of his garden in Giverny not the pond of water lilies. The first painting viewed was tranquil and fit right in with the pastel colors and reflection of nature off the water and sky. The form and reflection of the bridge and fauna was very pronounced and vivid. The second painting done later on during Monet’s 80’s appeared more abstract and modern when compared to the previous bridge painting as less form and more color created the imagery of the bridge in the painting. As this was not part of the permanent collection I wasn’t able to take pictures. I then moved on to the Hudson River School Collection and found my own personal part of heaven. I loved viewing paintings with scenes from places like Niagara Falls and seascapes of Maine where I have visited. One painter, Frederick Edwin Church, will become the focus of my paper. I especially loved one of his finest seascapes, Coast Scene Mount Desert, Maine. “There is no such picture of wild, reckless abandonment to its own impulses, as the fierce, frolicsome march of a gigantic wave,” Church wrote after observing the sea off Mt. Desert Island, Maine. This quote captured the same feeling of power, energy and light that I had when I was in Maine looking at a similar coastline as represented in his painting. My next outing will be to the Portland Museum of Art. Apologies, I too like Cheryl was unable to post any of my pictures. Cheers, Kim