In 1926, lifelong New London resident Harriet Upson Allyn passed away, and left funds to create a museum for the community in memory of her father, Captain Lyman Allyn (1797–1874). Lyman Allyn had commanded a whaling ship by the age of 21, founded a school for boys in New London in 1817, and subsequently found great success in business, with interests in whaling, banking, insurance, and the railroad. The Lyman Allyn Museum opened in 1932 in a beautiful neoclassical granite building designed by the renowned architect Charles A. Platt.
American Perspectives celebrates the arts of America from colonial times through the 20th century, often through the lens of Connecticut and specifically New London County. Exploring fine and decorative art through three centuries, American Perspectives highlights some of the Lyman Allyn’s finest works and most intriguing stories, bringing focus to the unique character of the region and its place in the wider world.
The 18th Century
New London’s deep water harbor has driven the regional economy since colonial times, connecting southeastern Connecticut to the broader Atlantic world. In the 18th century, local shipping merchants specialized in the West Indies trade, exporting livestock and food to Caribbean plantations in exchange for sugar, molasses, and rum. Economic growth and stability in the second half of the century enabled colonists to acquire a greater range of household goods—textiles, silver, glass, ceramics, furniture, and paintings among them. Some goods were imported, while others were produced in the home or by craftsmen and artists, whose work and skill expanded to meet increasing demand. The Tea Table and the painting of Sarah Deshon (from the same family) tell a local story, showing how the Deshons of 18th century New London cemented their status and wealth from trade with objects that conveyed their social and economic standing.
Connecticut played a key role in the American Revolution, as political tension over taxation and colonial governance led to war with Britain. With the British headquartered in New York City, New London’s harbor was an ideal site from which to initiate naval attacks on British loyalists. New London’s privateering (the use of authorized private ships to attack and loot enemy ships) prompted British troops to retaliate, burning New London in the Battle of Groton Heights on September 6, 1781.
Daniel Huntington’s portrait of Abigail Dolbeare Hinman, 1854–56, recreates an episode from this event, showing Hinman standing with her musket in hand, attempting to shoot Benedict Arnold, who can be seen through the window, sitting on horseback.
The 19th Century
As the young nation sought to define itself in the first half of the 19th century, artists created objects and paintings to unite Americans around common ideals of liberty, justice, and hope for the future. Some objects were overtly patriotic, while others were less direct. Hudson River School landscapes, for example, expressed pride in the nation’s natural resources, with scenes from the woods, rivers, and mountains of the northeast standing in for all of America, suggesting the promise of land, the spread of civilization, and the unique, almost spiritual quality of the landscape.
Artists also traveled to Europe to study art and see the sights, painting mountains and classical ruins, as Thomas Cole did in his the majestic view of Mount Etna, drawing visual connections between the ideals of the newly minted American Republic and those of classical antiquity.
Steam power, the railroad, the telegraph, and improved roads and canals ushered in the age of industrialization, facilitating the mass production and transportation of goods. Whereas many objects had been crafted by hand in the previous century, the 19th century saw the rise of goods made with machines. Connecticut mills and factories produced munitions, tinworks, clocks, furniture, and textiles, among other things. Early factories were fueled by whale oil, an important industrial lubricant and lamp fuel supplied by whaling, the most significant part of New London’s economy for several decades.
Isaac Sheffield, who painted portraits of many local whaling captains, portrayed five-year-old James Francis Smith shortly after his return from a long whaling voyage in 1837 with his father, New London whaling captain Franklin Smith. They had gone to Desolation Island in the South Seas, and his portrait shows him wearing a penguin skin coat, with the Chelsea, the ship his father had captained, in the background.
The United States grew dramatically over the course of the 19th century, expanding westward and growing in population with waves of immigration. Regional differences and tension over slavery and states’ rights erupted in the U.S. Civil War (1861–65). In New London County, a number of textile mills were built to supply the Union troops. After the war, New England’s mills became an industrial powerhouse, employing and sustaining entire towns.
Windsor chair, about 1803–1811, Stephen Tracy (American, 1782–1866) Lisbon, Connecticut, oak, hickory, maple, and butternut. Gift of Mrs. Elmer H. Spaulding. 1956.17.
Side chair, 1830, Lambert Hitchcock, American, 1795–1852, pine, rush seat, paint, and gilt. Gift of Lawrence W. Miner, 1935.3.17.
Charles Doratt (American, active 1835–? ), Brandegee's Thread Mill, about 1835–1840, oil on canvas. Gift of Mr. Roderic H.D. Henderson, 1967.94.
Jar, about 1770–1800, glazed ceramic, Bean Hill Pottery, Norwich, CT. Gift of the Estate of Katherine Kent, 1947.128.1.
Unknown artist (American, active mid-19th century), Norwich, CT, Risley Pottery, Norwich, mid-19th century, pencil on paper. Museum Purchase, 1972.381.
Flask, about 1856–1865, glass, New London Glass Works, New London, CT. Gift of Mrs. Norbert Hill, 1946.78.
Work table with inset landscape, 1810-1820, Unknown maker, New England, mahogany, watercolor on paper. Museum purchase, 1971.306.
Whale Oil Lamp, 1830s or 40s, vaseline yellow pressed glass. Boston and Sandwich Glass Works, Sandwich, Massachusetts. Gift of Mrs. Albert W. Crosby, 1946.122.11.
Isaac Sheffield, (American, 1798–1845), Portrait of James Francis Smith (1831-1904), 1837 or 38, oil on canvas. Frank Loomis Palmer Fund, 1943.467.
William T. Gooding (American, active late 19th century), New London Light from the North East, about 1880–90, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Edward S. Harkness, 1947.176.
John Ewen, Jr. (American, active 1840s), View of the ship Alert of New London (fore and aft), 1845, oil on canvas. Gift of Frederick W. Sheffield, 1947.191.
Isaac Sheffield (American, 1807–1845), Portrait of Captain Benjamin R. Latham, about 1840, oil on canvas. Museum Purchase. 1964.246.
Alvan Fisher (American, 1792–1863), Boy with cat and dog, about 1800–1836, oil painting on academy board. Museum purchase, 1948.145.
August Laux (American, 1847–1921), Still Life with Raspberries, about 1890, oil on canvas. Gift of the Art History Study Group, 1971.87.
Platt Powell Ryder (American, 1821–1896), The Fireside, 1885, oil on canvas. Palmer Fund purchase, 1977.1.
Charles Ethan Porter (American, 1847–1923), Still Life (Apples), late 19th-early 20th century, oil on cardboard. Gift of Mr. William Douglas, 1944.52.
John Rogers (American, 1829–1904), Weighing the Baby, 1876, painted plaster. Anonymous gift, 1962.269.
Alvan Fisher (American, 1792–1863), Indians in a Wooded Landscape, 1855, oil on canvas. Gift of Lee B. Anderson, by exchange, 1959.4.
Covered compote, 1879, Gillinder & Company, Philadelphia, glass, Pioneer (Westward Ho) pattern. Gift of Miss Rose Leavitt, 1968.83.
Duchoiselle (French, active mid-to-late 19th century), Allegory of Fishing, Native American Maiden, about 1870, bronze. Gift of Mrs. Frederic Newcomb, 1940.19.
Hiram Powers (American, 1804–1873), Bust of the Fisherboy, Italy (model, about 1849; Lyman Allyn version, by 1873), marble. Gift of Mr. Dunbar Lockwood, 1986.134.
Abbott H. Thayer (American, 1849–1921), At the Market Place, Paris, 1875, oil on canvas. Museum purchase, 1942.422.
Conrad Wise Chapman (American, 1842–1910), Lake Titicaca, Peru, 1870, oil on panel. Gift of Edward Pawlin, 1968.85.
Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow (American, 1845–1921), Vesuvius Before Eruption, about 1880, oil on canvas. Gift of Richard Gipstein, 2003.2.
Jervis McEntee (American, 1826–1891), Train through a Pass in the Alps, about 1868, oil on academy board. Gift of Miss Elizabeth Evans, 1959.88.
William S. Robinson (American, 1861–1945), French Village, 1902, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Nicholas Pond, 1943.452.
Punch ladle, mid-to-late 18th century, coconut bowl, wood, silver. Deshon-Mercer Collection 1948.68.14.
Sewing table, mid-19th century, Canton China, made for the export market, wood, lacquer, paint. Gift of Esther R. Bascom, Rosalie R. Rooks, Joyce Edwards, and Pauline Perry, 1986.100.
Thomas Cole (American, born England, 1801–1848), Mount Etna from Taormina, Sicily, 1844, oil on canvas. Gift of Nelson C. White, 1943.466.
Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900), Study for New England Scenery, 1850, oil on board. Gift of Miss Evelyn Page, 1958.59.
Jasper Francis Cropsey (American, 1823–1900), View of Stifford, 1858, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Ralph A. Powers, 1948.6.
Martin Johnson Heade (American 1819–1904), Connecticut Landscape, 1868, oil on canvas. Museum purchase, 1955.41.
Victor de Grailly (French 1804–1889), View of Niagara Falls [The Horse Shoe Falls], about 1840s, oil on canvas. Friend’s fund purchase, 1958.36.
alternate view - Victor de Grailly (French 1804–1889), View of Niagara Falls [The Horse Shoe Falls], about 1840s, oil on canvas. Friend’s fund purchase, 1958.36.
William Henry Howe (American, 1846–1929), Landscape, 1883, oil on canvas. Gift of William Howe Foote, 1946.285.
James McDougal Hart (American 1828–1901), View from Hazelwood, Albany in the Distance, 1850, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Edward Harkness, 1947.7.
Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900), New England Landscape, probably late 1840s, oil on canvas. Museum Purchase, 1945.70.
John Denison Crocker (American, 1823-1907), Hunter in New England Wilderness, 1855, oil on canvas. Museum Purchase, 1969.35.
The 20th Century
In a period of tremendous growth and change, artists looked forward and back, charting new terrain with abstraction, while revisiting their artistic roots through innovative approaches to traditional genres such as landscape, still life, and portraiture.
The early 20th century was a time of rapid expansion and industrialization fueled in part by waves of immigration. A decade of exuberance followed World War I before the stock market crash of 1929 initiated the Great Depression of the 1930s. Abstraction and European modernism filtered into American art, while a realistic, regional style simultaneously held sway, resulting in a mix of subjects and styles.
Many artists were drawn to the energy and bustle of the modern city, awash in crowds and transformed by industry, skyscrapers and the automobile. The city could be intense, noisy, and oppressive, however, and some artists retreated during the summer to Connecticut art colonies to paint peaceful landscapes and scenes of leisure. Guy Wiggins drew inspiration from both the city and the country, painting impressionistic views of New York in winter, as well as scenes such as Church on the Hill, ca. 1910–12, showing country life in Old Lyme, Connecticut.
Beatrice Cuming’s painting, Chubb, shows a submarine being built in Groton, Connecticut during World War II. Cuming’s canvas affirms New London’s long connection to the sea and celebrates industry at a time when the nation was consumed with the war effort.
Henry Ward Ranger (American, 1858–1916), Mason's Island Cove, about 1900, oil on wood. Gift of Thomas Colville, by exchange, 1974.167.
Charles H. Davis (American, 1856–1933), Sky, 1924, oil on canvas. Virginia Palmer Bequest, 1937.4.15.
Bruce Crane (American, 1857–1937), The White Mantle, 1919, oil on canvas. Virginia Palmer Bequest. 1937.4.2.
Frank Bicknell (American, 1866–1943), Woodland, early 20th century, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Nicholas Pond, 1943.454.
Carleton Wiggins (American, 1848–1932), Late in March, 1923, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. G.V. Lassen, Jr., 1969.11.
Guy C. Wiggins (American, 1883–1962), Church on the Hill, about 1910–1912, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Nicholas Pond, 1943.459.
Willard L. Metcalf (American, 1858–1925), The Green Meadow, 1919, oil on canvas. Virginia Palmer Bequest, 1937.4.10.
William Chadwick (American, born England, 1879–1962), The Connecticut River, early 20th Century, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. William Chadwick, 1965.142.
William Chadwick (American, born England, 1879–1962), The Hammock, 1910, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. William Chadwick, 1965.141.
Gustav Stickley (American, 1858–1942), Side Chair, about 1902–03, oak with rush seat. Gift of the Estate of Beatrice Fox Auerbach, 1976.155.
Vase, 1900–1925, Newcomb Pottery, New Orleans, Louisiana, glazed ceramic. Gift of Miss Ruth Newcomb,1964.146.
Vase, 1921, Rookwood Pottery, Cincinnati, Ohio, glazed ceramic. Museum Purchase, 1974.7.
John Christen Johansen (American, born Denmark, 1876–1964), Woodland Bather, 1913, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Nicholas Pond, 1943.440.
Anna Coleman Ladd (American, 1878–1939), A Lady of the Twenties, about 1920s or 30s, bronze. Gift of Mr. M.R. Schweitzer, 1970.88.
Paul Bransom (American, 1885–1979), Running Dogs, about 1920s, bronze relief. Gift of Mrs. Althea Bond, 1984.86.
Vase, Diana the Huntress, 1937, Sidney Waugh (American, 1904–1963), designer, Steuben Glass, Incorporated, Corning, New York, manufacturer, glass. Gift of Josephine Bingham Disco, 2016.8.
Bud Vase, 1925, Chase Brass and Copper Company, Waterbury, Connecticut, chrome. Gift of Donald Hawkins, 1974.252.
Gifford Beal (American, 1879–1956), Columbus Avenue, New York, about 1930, oil on masonite. Gift of Mrs. Leonard Moore, 1986.41.
James Henry Daugherty (American, 1887–1974), Arrival of the 6:20, about 1920s–30s, tempera on board. Gift of Frances Wayland Williams, 1947.12.12.
Guy Wiggins (American, 1883–1962), Wall Street and Trinity Church, Winter, 1935, oil on academy board. Gift of Judge and Mrs. Leonard Moore, 1983.141.
Beatrice Cuming (American, 1903–1974), Saturday Night: New London, about 1935, oil on canvas. Museum Purchase/Gift of William Bendig, 1992.2.
Edward Henry Potthast (American, 1857–1927), Ocean Breeze, about 1910, oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Nicolas Pond, 1943.443.
Albertus E. Jones (American, 1882–1957), November Landscape, about 1935–1942, oil on canvas. Gift of Frances Wayland Williams, 1947.12.52.
William Zorach (American, 1887–1966), Male and Female (Novation), about 1935, bronze. Bequest of Mary Griswold Steube, 2016.00.57.
Alfred Maurer (American 1868–1932), Two Heads, about 1928, oil on board. Gift of Mrs. Gertrude Dennis, 1974.33.
George Marinko (American, 1908–1989), The Jugglers Dream or The Trio Begins and Ends, 1939, oil on academy board. Gift of Frances Wayland Williams, 1947.12.49.
Doris Rosenthal (American, 1889–1971), High Priestess, 1945, oil on canvas. Gift of Midtown Galleries from the Doris Rosenthal estate, 1976.115.
Beatrice Cuming (American, 1903–1974), Chubb, 1944, oil on canvas. Gift of General Dynamics Electric Boat Division, 1994.2.
Post-War Art
In the prosperity and growth of the post-World War II era, a multiplicity of artistic trends and styles arose, dominated by abstraction. New York emerged as the center of the international art world. The 1960s and ‘70s witnessed cultural upheaval as people of color and women sought equal rights and many protested the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The prevalence of advertising and mass media led artists to explore new themes, performance, and technology, questioning the definitions of art and the idea of originality.
Since the 1980s, the postmodern art world has been in flux, and issues of gender, race, politics, and cultural identity have been at the fore in our globalized and technology-driven world. In A.R.T. (in the new world order), 1994, African-American artist Willie Cole uses text on a blackboard to create an acrostic poem of sorts, using various word associations and erasure to define and comment on art and culture.
Milton Avery (American, 1885–1965), Still Life with Philodendron and Spurs, 1948, oil on canvas. Gift of Anthony and Elizabeth Enders, 2019.
Walter Stuempfig (American, 1914–1970), Figures by a Fountain, about 1950s, oil on canvas. Gift of James R. Good, 1968.137.
Conoid Chair, 1963–64, George Nakashima (American, 1905–1990), American black walnut with hickory spindles. Museum purchase, 2016.3.
Larry Rivers (American, 1923–2002), Watermill Prospect, 1953, oil on canvas. Bequest of James Merrill. 1995.5.
Esteban Vicente (American, born Spain, 1903–2001), Yellow Band, 1972, oil on canvas. Museum accession, 2015.00.23.
Richard Anuszkiewicz (American, born 1930), Emerald Square, 1978, oil on canvas. Gift of Hassam and Speicher Purchase Funds, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, 1980.42.
Budd Hopkins (American, 1931–2011), Guardian XXVIII, 1982, acrylic on panel. Gift of Cynthia Bing, 1999.4.11.
Sol LeWitt (American, 1928–2007), Complex Form MH 15, 1990, enamel paint on aluminum. Gift of the Artist, 1994.20.
Kazuya Sakai (1927–2001, born in Argentina, active in America), Arcana, 1976, acrylic on canvas. Gift of Charles Jordan, 2015.00.15.
Louise Nevelson (American, born Ukraine, 1899–1988), The Crown, 1946, oil on canvas. Museum purchase, 2005.23.
Alex Katz (American, born 1927), Sketch for Passing, 1963, oil on board. Museum purchase, 1998.10.
Kiki Smith (American, born 1954), Untitled, 1991, ink on glass. Gift of Anthony and Elizabeth Enders, 2015.10.61.
Sam Messer (American, born 1955), Comet, 1997, oil on canvas. Gift of Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Richman, LLP, 2007.9.
Louise Nevelson (American, born in Ukraine, 1899–1988), Untitled, about 1960, painted wooden bas-relief with the artist’s original stainless-steel frame. Museum purchase with the Generous Support of Lebreton Gallery, 2016.2.
Idelle Weber (American, born 1932), Eames Chair, 1964, lacquer on Plexiglas. Museum Purchase, 2013.4.2.
Philip Guston, (American, 1913–1980), Farnesina Garden (Roma Series), 1971, oil on paper mounted to masonite. Gift of Samuel Dorsky, 1988.1167.
Willie Cole (American, born 1955), A.R.T. (in the new world order), 1994, oilstick on blackboard. Gift of Anthony and Elizabeth Enders, 2015.10.19.
Darren Waterston (American, born 1965), Nocturne, 1999, oil on wood panel. Gift of Anthony and Elizabeth Enders, 2016.1.
