Flora/Fauna: The Naturalist Impulse in American Art  By Jennifer Stettler Parsons with essays by Ellery Foutch and Amy Kurtz Lansing $24.95­­ (cover image: Harry Hoffman, A Coral Cave) Softcover: 120 pages Publisher: Florence Griswold Museum ISBN-13: 978-1-880897-30-0 Product Size: .33 x 9 x 10.75 inches At the heart of the Florence Griswold Museum’s collection stands a tall mahogany chest containing twenty-eight drawers filled with treasures. The contents make up the naturalist collection preserved by the American Impressionist Willard Metcalf, who gathered many of his specimens during summer visits to Florence Griswold’s boardinghouse between 1905 and 1907. Inspired by the Museum’s extensive collection of his work, this exhibition places Metcalf’s dual practice of art-making and natural history within the larger context of American art history. Flora/Fauna surveys the history of artist-naturalists and environmentally-conscious artists in the United States from the dawn of the 19^th century through the mid-20^th century. Together, their works reveal the great diversity and evolution of the ‘naturalist impulse’—the artist’s interest in natural history—across time. Since the country’s founding, artists have participated in forging an American natural history as explorers, collectors, close observers, cataloguers, and early environmentalists. They originated, developed, and challenged notions of nature’s proper scientific and aesthetic representation, and then translated those concerns into fine art. Stemming from the Lyme Art Colony’s history, a large portion of this display emphasizes art produced in Connecticut. This vantage point is appropriate, for one of the main factors motivating urban artists’ visits to rural Connecticut was the opportunity to commune with nature, often at art colonies. This exhibition is a timely endeavor as we think about our role on this fragile planet, and what we leave for future generations. Works in the exhibition reveal how artistic production has 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.  

May Night: Willard Metcalf at Old Lyme By Bruce W. Chambers with an essay by Amy Ellis and entries by Emily M. Weeks Softcover: 144 pages Publisher: Florence Griswold Museum (2005) ISBN-10: 1-8808-9722-9 ISBN-13: 978-1-8808-9722-5 Product Size: 0.5 x 9 x 11 inches Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925), perhaps America’s most important Impressionist landscape painter, spent only three summers living and working at the Lyme Art Colony. Though only a brief episode in what would ultimately be a fifty-year career, the landscapes Metcalf created at Old Lyme were acclaimed by critics, sought out by collectors and museums, and central to his subsequent reputation as a major figure in American art. This catalogue accompanied the 2005 exhibition, May Night: Willard Metcalf at Old Lyme, referring to Metcalf’s most famous painting, a moonlit view of the Griswold House that earned the artist his first national prize. This full-color catalogue contains 16 plates and 55 illustrations exploring the union of Metcalf’s art with his deep knowledge of the natural world. Home to the largest public collection of Metcalf’s work, the Florence Griswold Museum has collaborated with guest curator Bruce W. Chambers to produce this scholarly discussion of the life and work of a highly influential artist.

Clark G. Voorhees (1871-1933) By Barbara J. MacAdam Softcover: 32 pages Publisher: Lyme Historical Society, Florence Griswold Museum (1981) ISBN: 978-1-880897-13-3 Product Size: .187 x 8.5 x 10.5 inches This catalogue was published to accompany an exhibition of the same name at the Florence Griswold Museum (June 13 – August 30, 1981). Clark Voorhees felt a close identification both with Old Lyme and its artist community. Clark G. Voorhees (1871-1933) presents a selection of paintings, drawings, and etchings produced during a career that spans approximately forty years.  The majority are landscape subjects depicting three areas that the artist loved to paint and among which he sought to divide his time: Old Lyme; Lenox, Massachusetts; and Somerset, Bermuda.  Like most American landscapists of this period, Voorhees was strongly influenced by the closely related Barbazon, Tonalist, and Impressionist styles. Features historic photos of Voorhees throughout his life along with 21 black and white images, and 4 full color plates.

The Freedom Business: Connecticut Landscapes Through the Eyes of Venture Smith By Marilyn Nelson Softcover: 32 pages Publisher: Lyme Historical Society (2006) ISBN-10: 1-8808-9723-7 ISBN-13: 978-1-8808-9723-2 Product Size: 0.5 x 9 x 10.5 inches This catalogue tells the true narrative of a slave from Africa, crafted in verse by Marilyn Nelson. Born an African prince, Broteer Furro was captured by slave traders at age six. As he boarded a cargo ship, the vessel's steward purchased the boy and gave him a new name: Venture. He landed in Rhode Island and worked through a lifetime of slavery to buy not only his own freedom, but also the freedom of his wife and children. Remarkable in his own time for his ambition and physical stature, Venture Smith became history's first man to document both his capture from Africa and life as an American slave. This catalogue accompanied a 2006-2007 exhibition of The Freedom Business: Connecticut Landscapes Through the Eyes of Venture Smith at the Florence Griswold Museum. This volume features 14 original poems by Marilyn Nelson paired with Impressionist paintings from the Museum’s collection that retell the remarkable life of Venture Smith.