Mystic and Old Lyme, CT

Scarborough c. 1825 Watercolor and graphite on paper

A few months ago, we became aware of a special exhibit being
offered at the Mystic Seaport Museum.  The museum was hosting an exhibition devoted to the watercolors of J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851).  The event was organized in conjunction with Tate Britain.  The Mystic show would be the only North American venue.  With the show ending on February 23, we didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to see the 97 works presented in this collection.  Once again using points, we were able to book flights with JetBlue and we were off to Connecticut. 

Whalers Entangled in Flaw Ice- c. 1846 Oil paint on canvas

The "Turner Bequest" was donated to Great Britain following his death in 1851.  Of the 30,000 works on paper, 300 oil paintings and 280 sketchbooks most of the works are conserved at the Tate Britain.  Though he is primarily known for his oil paintings, he was a lifelong watercolorist.  He also traveled widely and it is said that he rarely left home without his sketchbook and a traveling case of watercolors, evidenced by the vast body of work left behind.  The exhibit in Mystic spanned Turner's entire career, so it provided a view of the changes in his creative process, and how he experimented with light and color.  We visited the show twice during our stay in town, in order to reassess our impressions of the different works. 

The Mystic Seaport Museum covers 19 acres along the Mystic River.  Though it also includes a recreated New England coastal village, that portion of the grounds was closed during our winter visit.  We were able to visit the whaleship, Charles W. Morgan, the oldest commercial ship still in existence and the Museum's Collection Research Center which offers marine paintings, scrimshaw, models, tools and extensive historical archives.

Artist's rendering of the boardinghouse

Our next destination was to visit a friend in Rhinebeck, NY, but we had heard about the art colony established in 1899 in nearby Old Lyme so a trip there was incorporated into our travels.  The epicenter of the Lyme Art Colony was Miss Florence Griswold's boardinghouse where painters took up residence.  This was the beginning of one of the largest Impressionistic art colonies in America.  While the extensive gardens and riverfront areas that provided inspiration for the artists looked rather bleak during our February visit, the Krieble Gallery
offered an extensive photography exhibit.  But the highlight of the stop was Miss Griswold's house.  She had inherited the Late Georgian architecture home along with its debts and had begun renting rooms for $7 a week to help cover her expenses.  A stay by artist Henry Ward Ranger in 1899 was the springboard for the colony.  Ranger wanted to create an art colony in New England and in the following years, he returned with a group of artists including Childe Hassam and Willard Metcalf who were at the leading edge of the Tonalist and Impressionist movements.  From 1900 to the 1930s, over 135 artists boarded in the house.  Over 43 wall and door panels completed by the summer residents decorate the interior.

On our approach to Rhinebeck, we experienced a few snow flurries, but despite the overnight temperatures dipping briefly into the teens, the weather was relatively mild for this time of year.  Visiting with our friend, Dennis, was the reason for this leg of the trip, and we were very low key during our stay.  We did have a chance to visit
Higgins's Studio twice.  This is where he designs and creates his jewelry collection, and I ordered a new pair of earrings.  Before our departure, we had an overnight snowfall of 3 inches, but luckily, the daytime temperatures warmed on the day of our drive to Albany for our flight home so we had no ice or snow concerns.  It was a perfect mini-getaway. 

Dennis at work.