Sheldon Moore (1798-1860) painted natural-science illustrations. Sheldon’s nephew, Nelson Augustus Moore (1824-1902), was a famed landscape painter. Nelson’s daughter, Ellen Maria Moore (1861-1934), painted small portraits. Maria’s niece, Martha Moore (1901-1983), created abstract sculptures. Martha’s nephew, Andrew (b. 1952), is a watercolorist living on Oak Bluffs, Mass.
A new exhibit at Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, titled “Out of the Shadow,” focuses on this family of artists, who were based in the Southington-Berlin area. The exhibit focuses most strongly on Edwin Augustus Moore (1858-1925), who experienced a brief period of popularity before fading into obscurity, overshadowed by his father’s reputation.
“We all knew Nelson. We didn’t know anyone else,” says Cynthia Roznoy, curator of “Out of the Shadow.” “This is just the beginning. There’s more research to be done, more art to be found.”
CT Humanities provided funding for the exhibit. Liz and Mark Kopec of Southington, who live in a 1745 house once owned by a Moore, donated several pieces.
The exhibit includes landscapes and roofscapes of Hartford and the New Britain area by Edwin, a few charming hand-painted postcards and watercolors created in St. Augustine, Fla., in 1895. Edwin was fond of doing animal portraits. Several examples of his dogs and cows — cows alone, in groups, in fields, in rivers, snuggling, one an extreme close-up of a cow’s face — hang in the museum’s Munger Room. Music composed by Edwin plays in the gallery’s sound system.
Liz Kopec says Edwin’s painting prowess was all the more extraordinary considering he was born with deformities: a partial right hand, two thumbs on his left and one leg shorter than the other. Kopec said his family contributed to his success not just in terms of genes but also support. “It’s to the Moore family’s credit that instead of hiding him or isolating him as Victorian people often did, he traveled with his father his dad’s entire life,” she said. “He was never hidden away.”
Also new to the Mattatuck is an exhibit of abstract mixed-media sculptural paintings by Amber Maida and, in the lobby, four silk kimonos by Mary Wolff. Both are up until Aug. 28.
OUT OF THE SHADOW: Edwin Augustus Moore, at the Mattatuck, 144 W. Main St., Waterbury, runs through Sept. 4. mattatuckmuseum.org.
