New Exhibition At New Britain Museum Of American Art Explores Themes Of Childhood

NEW BRITAIN — Childhood innocence and its loss as expressed in American painting, sculpture, prints and photography is the theme of “Innocence,” a new exhibition view at the New Britain Museum of American Art until September 18.

Represented in the exhibition are 65 works by such renowned artists as George Inness, Mary Cassatt, John Singleton Copley, Winslow Homer, Willard Metcalf, Helen Levitt and Sally Mann.

“Innocence” concentrates on depictions of babies, children and teenagers at work and play in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries in social, domestic and work settings. It also traces the development of youth from infancy to young adulthood.

The exhibition illustrates how youngsters react to the world surrounding them and how they confront their loss of innocence as they discover the uncertainties of early adulthood. 

“Innocence” represents a wide variety of works of art ranging from Mary Cassatt’s tender, intimate portraits of mothers and children to the provocative, sensual photographs of Sally Mann and Jock Sturgess. “Innocence” also contrasts Winslow Homer’s  bucolic, peaceful scenes of play, courtship, and leisure with Helen Levitt’s and Lewis Hine’s personal images of working-class children.

The exhibition was curated by Daniel Fulco, assistant to NBMAA Director Douglas Hyland, and includes works from private collections, Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., Hollis Taggart Galleries of New York, Laurence Miller Gallery of New York, and Alpha Gallery of Boston, as well as NBMAA’s permanent collection.

Also On View:

Hudson River School

A remarkable collection of Hudson River School Paintings assembled by Henry and Sharon Martin of Litchfield County will be on view at the New Britain Museum of American Art this summer in an exhibition of works by such well-known artists as Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Jasper Cropsey, Frederic Edwin Church, Sanford Robinson Gifford, John Frederick Kensett and Martin Johnson Heade.

“For Spacious Skies: Hudson River School Paintings from the Henry and Sharon Martin Collection” will be on view until September 25.

Represented in the exhibition are 16 paintings by Hudson River School artists who are well-known for recording American scenery, capturing its shifting seasonal light and changing climatic conditions with honesty and vitality.

Hudson River School paintings “resound with ambition, manifest moral character, and reflect brilliant optimism – qualities all abundant in the Martins’ excellent collection,” said NBMAA Director Douglas Hyland.

The Martin collection focuses on the Luminist phase of the Hudson River School practiced principally during the 1850s-70s.  During this era, landscape painters created panoramic views noteworthy for their manipulation of natural light, creating majestic skies and sweeping vistas.

The NBMAA exhibition was curated by Kevin Sharp, the director of Visual Arts at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mt. Vernon, Ill., who is also author of the catalogue bearing the same title as the exhibition. The catalogue features an introduction by John Wilmerding (Christopher Binyon Sarofim ’86 Professor in American Art, Professor of Art and Archeology, Princeton University).

New/Now: Gene Wilder

New/Now artist Gene Wilder is, without doubt, better known as an actor than a painter.

But art has played a key role in Wilder’s life since he first experienced, as a teenager, the work of Vincent van Gogh at an exhibition staged by the Art Institute of Chicago. Duly inspired by the experience, Wilder has been painting ever since. Had he not become an actor, he says, he probably would have become a professional artist.

The museum’s next “New/Now” feature exhibition will offer works – the first museum show of his watercolor portraits – by Mr Wilder. On view from July 10 through September 4, “New/Now: Gene Wilder” will have an opening reception on Sunday, July 10, from 2 to 4 pm.

The exhibition coincides with the release of a newly published autobiography by Mr Wilder, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art which explores, in part, his work as an artist as well as an actor. 

New Britain Museum of American Art, at 56 Lexington Street, can be reached by calling 860-229-0257. Additional information including programming schedules, regular hours and admission fees is also available at www.nbmaa.org.

Docent-guided tours for adults and children are available by appointment during the morning and public hours. Sunday gallery talks are scheduled throughout the year. Call for information.