Impressionism 150: From Paris to Connecticut & Beyond

In 2024 the world will celebrate the sesquicentennial of the first independent exhibition of the French Impressionists, marking 150 years since the “Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers, etc.” opened in Paris on April 15, 1874. The Florence Griswold Museum's permanent collection contains many treasures through which to tell the story of Impressionism, how it traveled across the ocean, and how audience reactions shifted over time.

Impressionism 150 will locate the role of Connecticut artists and settings in this narrative. What did Connecticut artists think of Impressionism, and how did that evolve? Which artists and critics were driving the roller coaster of responses that began with disparagement, turned to appreciation, dropped in favor of abstraction, and then peaked in blockbuster exhibitions?

Works created by artists in both French and Connecticut settings will be juxtaposed, while new acquisitions will be highlighted alongside gifts by Lyme Colony artists to Florence Griswold.The recent gift, La Paresse, which Lawton Parker painted in Giverny and brought to Old Lyme, will be featured to consider different perspectives on the nude in French and American contexts as it relates to Impressionism, and to explore the impact of French Impressionist colonies on their American counterparts.