The Florence Griswold Museum

Do to the snow last Tuesday I had to make some adjustments in my schedule for museum field trips. I instead went this past Sunday February 8th to The Florence Griswold Museum. Sunday is a unique day of the week for my family. Everyone gets together, my aunt, uncle, cousins and nieces. We have a dinner that starts at 12:30 and it doesn’t end until 5 o’clock. However, this Sunday was different. My little cousins Kayley and Olivia, who are 10 and 7 came along with me to visit The Griswold Museum in Old Lyme.

It was a beautiful day to visit the museum, so on our way there we took the opportunity to drive along the shore line. To get to the Griswold house take a left off exit 70 from I95N and then your very first right. Located in the center of town, the Griswold home resides on eleven (11) acres of land and borders The Lieutenant River. The Lieutenant River is the longest running river in Connecticut which eventually dumps into the Connecticut River. This area of the grounds were popular amongst the artists staying at the boarding house. Many landscapes of the Lieutenant River have been painted, some showing guests staying at the house on boats owned by Florence Griswold.

There are two buildings to tour, start at the bottom of the hill. This is where you pay a small admission, students $7.00 and kids under 12 are free!! We were not allowed to take any pictures in either parts of the museum. Upon enter the gallery I was excited to see the kids interested in what everything was and how it come to be here at the museum.

One particular artist that caught both Kayley and my attention was Thomas W. Nason. We noticed what we thought were drawings but in fact were prints. Thomas W. Nason from Lyme Connecticut was known for his wood carvings and prints. He later worked with metals such as copper. What amazed us most about Nason’s prints was the amount of detail each one had and yet some of his prints were very small. He created plates and pressed the imagine on paper. Some landscapes were created by pressing the same piece of paper up to 700 hundred times. There were also wood carvings encased in class. Some of the carvings were inked or stained to give it color, making the picture carved stand out against the wood block. The gallery also has the tools used for creating Nason’s projects.

Once we made our way through the gallery, we walked up the hill to tour the Griswold home. It was windy but the kids toughed it out and walk along some of the shoveled walk ways so I could take pictures. We passed by the original barns which still contain everything needed to maintain the gardens in the spring and summer. The staff has kept the same type of fruit trees and flowers Florence would have planted.

Upon enter the Griswold home, the curator gave Kayley and Olivia a book filled with pictures of art to look for while touring the home. We were then on a mission to find all the art in their books but before we did the curator talked to us about the history of the home.

The Griswold house was built in 1817 by architect Samuel Belcher from Hartford Connecticut and still contains most of the original furniture along with dish ware used during dining. The home was built for Florence’s parents, Robert and Helen Griswold. Florence’s father sailed the Atlantic and earned a living doing this until he was 49. He then retired and opened an ox-and-horseshoe factory in Old Lyme. The business was not successful and the family fell into massive debt. Upon the death of her father Florence’s mother Helen decided to open a boarding school for girls in an effort not to lose their home. Florence and her sisters also made attempts to sell flowers from their gardens but that too was unsuccessful. At this time women had certain expectancies and running a household financial and working was considered out of place for a women.

The strain to maintain the home was becoming great and a close friend of the family, artist Henry Ward Ranger, approached Florence with the idea of a boarding house for artists. The location was perfect and he promised to bring all of his friends with him. The idea was to create a Barbizon-oriented art colony. by the 1900’s they succeeded in creating The Old Lyme Art Colony influence by the arrival of impressionistic artist Childe Hassam.

The Griswold home became the most influential factor in the impressionistic art movement in New England. Many artists traveled here and paint Connecticut’s shoreline and its surroundings such as apple orchards, marshes, the wilderness and local farms. Florence would then sell the paintings and drawings. Old Lyme had become an escape from the busy cities that were growing from American industrialism.

You really step back in time when you walk into this house. By the coach is the original phone from the 1900’s sitting on an end table. The walls in main hallway are covered with linen as a wall paper and the ceilings are made of plaster with decorative designs. There were some changes made along the way. The house was not built with lighting and indoor plumbing so the Griswold sisters refinanced their home to make the changes. A particular detail to look for when touring the Griswold house is the painted door and wall panels through out the first floor. A good majority of these panels are in the dining room. You may tour the first and second floor of the home, the third floor is closed to the public.

Just as we were about to leave, the curator invited us back in April. The Art Association offers free painting classes on a Sunday starting in April. All are welcome! Easels are set up along the Lieutenant River and you can paint landscapes just as many artists did when they were boarding at the home.

Alphonse Jongers (1872-1945)The Harpist, 1903Oil on canvasGift of the Lyme Art Association

Henry Rankin Poore (1859-1940) Beagle Hound Oil on artist board Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Shippee

Jules Turcas (1854-1917)Potato HarvestOil on wood panelGift of Mrs. Dorothy Tarrant in Memory of Her Husband

Robert H. Nisbet (1879-1961)Bow Bridge, 1903Oil on canvasGift of Mr. and Mrs. George Page Ely

Charles P. Gruppe (1860-1940)The Griswold House at Old Lyme Oil on canvas board

Samuel Walters (1811-1882)The Northumberland, 1847Oil on canvasGift in Honor of the Centennial; Donated by Mr. William E.S. Griswold, Jr.

Frank Vincent DuMond (1865-1951)Top of the Hill, c. 1906Oil on academy board

The Hot Air Club—artists and wives on the side porch, 1905