Flora/Fauna: The Naturalist Impulse in American Art
June 3 through
September 17, 2017
101 Works Surveying the History of Artists-Naturalists in America. Drawn extensively from the Museum’s collection, as well as many public and private lenders, Flora/Fauna surveyed the history of environmentally-conscious artists in the United States from the dawn of the 19th century through the mid-20th century.
The exhibition began with early-American artists such as the Peale family, John James Audubon and their contemporaries, then examined the naturalist impulse in works by the Hudson River School, American Pre-Raphaelites, and American Impressionist artists before featuring select 20th-century artist-naturalists such as Roger Tory Peterson, creator of widely-used bird guides. Works in the exhibition revealed how artistic production corresponded with social developments in American history, from an early concern with establishing a national identity distinct from Europe; to reflecting Americans’ shifting philosophies on evolution and the human relationship to the environment; to the growth of the conservation movement in the United States.
Martin Johnson Heade, Jungle Orchids and Hummingbirds, 1872. Oil on canvas, 18 1/4 x 23 in. Yale University Art Gallery, Christian A. Zabriskie and Francis P. Garvan, B.A. 1897, M.A. (Hon.) 1922, Funds
Thomas Cole, Study for “A Wild Scene,” 1831. Oil on canvas, 11 x 17 in., Florence Griswold Museum, Gift of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company
Fidelia Bridges, Thistle in a Field, 1875. Oil on canvas, 14 x 10 in., Florence Griswold Museum, Gift of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company
Roger Tory Peterson, Satin Bowerbird, 1964. Gouache, watercolor, pencil and ink on board, 4 x 6 in. Charles T. Clark
John James Audubon and Joseph R. Mason, Black-billed Cuckoo, 1828, from The Birds of America, first edition. Engraving, etching, aquatint, and watercolor on paper, 39 x 26 in. Collection of the Museum of American Bird Art at Mass Audubon, Bequest of Anna Bemis Stearns, 1995
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Flora/Fauna: The Naturalist Impulse in American Art was made possible with the generous support of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, the National Endowment for the Arts, Bank of America, the Rudolph and John Dirks Fund of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, the Nika P. Thayer Exhibition and Publication Fund, and the Connecticut Office of the Arts. Additional support was generously provided by a group of individual donors helping to advance the Museum’s mission through special exhibitions. Media sponsors: Connecticut Cottages and Gardens and WSHU.
