‘Images Of Contentment’

Public Programs

John Kensett, one of the nation’s leading landscape painters during the 19th Century, created breathtaking images of coastal Connecticut from his home at Contentment Island just after the Civil War. For the first time, more than 20 of his paintings and drawings, combined with other historical images, borrowed from major museums and private collections across the country, have been brought together for a special exhibition focused on the serenity of Kensett’s paintings of the Connecticut shore.

In conjunction with “Images of Contentment: John F. Kensett and the Connecticut Shore,” The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury continues to offer public programs related to the exhibition.

This weekend, “Cheshire Day” will offer visitors of all ages a fun-filled day of art and history based on Cheshire native John Frederick Kensett. Participants will learn about life in the mid-1800s and what Cheshire was like when the artist was a boy. “Cheshire Day”_will take place Sunday, October 21, from 1 to 3 pm. People dressed in period costume will also be on hand.

On Friday, October 26, at noon, assistant curator Raechel Guest will discuss Kensett’s “Gathering Storm on Long Island Sound.” A graduate of the Winterthur program in American material culture, Ms Guest has taught American cultural history in several secondary and undergraduate schools in the region.

On Friday, November 2, Ms Guest will lead a discussion concerning Kensett’s “Passing Off of the Storm.” Then on Friday, November 9, Ms Guest will focus her discussion on Kensett’s “Shore of Darien, Connecticut.” Admission to Ms Guest’s lectures are free.

An evening lecture, “Darien and Suburbanization,” will be presented by Dr Herb Jannick, a professor of history at Western CT State University, and Ken Reiss, president of Darien Historical Society. The lecture will be on Thursday, October 25, at 7:30 pm. Cost is $12 per person.

The museum will host a symposium on Saturday, October 27, from 9 am to 4 pm. Cost is $30 and the confirmed speakers include Dr Franklin Kelly, curator of American and British art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Dr Janice Simon, an associate professor of art history, University of Georgia, and the author of Images of Contentment: John Frederick Kensett and the Connecticut Shore; and Dr Roger Stein, professor of history of American art (emeritus), University of Virginia, and the author of numerous publications on the way Americans have seen the land and seascapes in the 19th Century. Among Dr Stein’s publications are Seascape and the American Imagination for The Whitney Museum in New York City and Picturing Old New England:_Image and Memory for the Smithsonian.

Guided tours are also available. “Visions of Sea and Sky” and “Visions of Land and Sea” each last about two hours. Cost is $8 per person, and arrangements must be made in advance. Contact Nina Cherubino (203-753-0381 extension 13) for tour details. Contact the museum for additional information concerning other programs.