Museums in Connecticut are traveling all over the world this fall. The Wadsworth Atheneum asks its visitors to consider the landscapes of Norway. New Britain Museum of American Art takes its inspiration from Ghana. Matttuck Museum is showcasing artworks inspired by Nigeria. The Davison Art Center at Wesleyan is exhibiting photography from Soviet bloc countries. The Lyman Allyn in New London contemplates Brazil, and the Bruce in Greenwich showcases that most Parisian of artists, Toulouse-Lautrec.
Open studios, however, timed for Christmas shopping, focus squarely on Connecticut artistic talents.
Exhibits
Wadsworth Museum of Art in Hartford displays “Sublime North: Romantic Painters Discover Norway: Paintings from the Collection of Asbjorn Lunde” until Jan. 15. The exhibit includes 19th-century landscapes by Johann Christian Dahl, Thomas Fearnley and Peder Balke. “Morgan: Mind of the Collector,” an exhibit of 18th-century German and French porcelains, Italian majolica, baroque golden artwork and glassworks collected by J.P. Morgan and donated to the Atheneum in 1917, will run Sept. 23 to Dec. 31. “Sam Messer: MATRIX 178,” will be up from Oct. 5 to Feb. 11. The exhibit includes “Denis the Pirate,” a video created with etchings, drawings in stop-motion, as well as some artworks used to make the video. thewadsworth.org.
Real Art Ways will focus on Hartford this fall. “Andy Hart’s Hartford,” from Sept. 21 to Nov. 12, is an exhibit of photographs of people at Hartford festivals. “Erik Williams: A Sad and Beautiful World,” from Nov. 16 to Jan. 14, shows black-and-white photos of Hartford. Non-Hartford-centric exhibits include work by Peter Edlund inspired by Native American New England place names, from Oct. 19 to Dec. 24, and “Thomas Smith: Secondary Harvest,” paintings and sculptures inspired by nature, from Nov. 16 to Jan. 21. realartways.org.
The New Britain Museum of American Art displays “Ghana Paints Hollywood” from Nov. 8 to Feb. 28. The exhibit features about 60 hand-painted posters, created inthe 80s and 90s, which Ghanaian artists created to advertise screenings of American movies. nbmaa.org.
Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury opens three shows Sept. 10 ” tútu: Nnenna Okore,” a show of textile sculptures inspired by the artist’s native Nigeria; “An Artist for All Seasons: Dmitri Wright,” a show of work by the impressionist painter; and “#IBelieveInWaterbury,” about unique aspects of the city. On Nov. 19, the Mattatuck opens “Jane Peterson: At Home and Abroad,” a retrospective of the modernist painter retrospective of modernist painter (1876-1965). On Dec. 10, two exhibits open: “Connected Relationships with Machines: Andrzej Zielinski,” a musing on machinery; and “Painting With a Camera: Jerome Sedlock,” a show of abstract photography. mattmuseum.org.
The Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University in Middletown exhibits “Black Pulp!” a study of black identity in the 20th and 21st centuries based on depictions in media,” will be at Sept. 19 to Dec. 10. Also at Zilkha, “Up in Arms,” artwork inspired by gun culture, runs Oct. 27 to Dec. 10. Elsewhere at Wesleyan, “Sasha Rudensky: Acts and Illusions,” an exhibit of photos taken in former Soviet bloc countries, runs Sept. 13 to Dec. 10. At the College of East Asian Studies Gallery at Mansfield Freeman Center, “Jiaqu Maria Ma: (BEIJING), a show of five paintings inspired by that city, will be up from Sept. 20 to Dec. 8. wesleyan.edu/cfa.
William Benton Museum of Art, on the campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, has “Marking 35 Years: The Work of Deborah Dancy” until Oct. 15 and “Unfiltered: An Exhibition about Water,” focusing on the various ways water affects human lives, until Dec. 17. benton.uconn.edu.
Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, “Artist in Exile: Expressions of Loss and Hope” will be up until Dec. 31. The exhibit examines the concept of emigration as a catalyst for artistic inspiration and includes work by artists including Jacques-Louis David, Gustave Courbet, Paul Gauguin, Josef Albers, Kurt Schwitters, Marcel Duchamp, George Grosz and Max Beckmann, in addition to contemporary artists. artgallery.yale.edu.
Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, will present “Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery” from Sept. 14 to Dec. 3. britishart.yale.edu.
The Bruce Museum in Greenwich shows “In the Limelight: Toulouse-Lautrec Portraits from the Herakleidon Museum” from Sept. 23 to Jan. 7. “Treasures of the Earth: Mineral Masterpieces from the Robert Wiener Collection” opens Nov. 11. brucemuseum.org.
Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, has “Bandits & Heroes, Poets & Saints: Popular Art of the Northeast of Brazil,” a traveling exhibit from the National Endowment for the Humanities, until Oct. 20. The show examines how African and Portuguese cultures combined to create the essence of Brazil. “Deer in the Headlights: Man vs. Nature,” a show of work by Billi Kid, is up until Oct. 29 in the Near :: New contemporary-art series. lymanallyn.org.
Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme opens three exhibits on Sept. 30 that run through Jan. 28: “World War I and the Lyme Art Colony,” which focuses on Lyme artists’ work to mobilize public sentiment for America’s entry into the The Great War; “Oscar Fehrer: Reflecting and Reflections,” a study of the Lyme painter’s themes; and “A Room of Her Own (Ballad of Ruth Coxe),” a show of work by contemporary photographer Pola Esther. Also on Sept. 30, the annual autumn event, “Wee Faerie Village,” opens. Its runs through Oct. 29. flogris.org.
The Walsh Gallery in Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University runs “Richard Lytle: A Retrospective,” a show of abstract paintings and drawings” from Sept. 15 to Feb. 3. Elsewhere on campus, “Picturing History: Ledger Drawings of the Plains Indians,” an exhibit of artworks from the late 19th century, will be up from Sept. 27 to Dec. 20 at the Bellarmine Hall galleries. fairfield.edu/museum/.
Open Studios
Open Studio Hartford, at which hundreds of local artists show and sell their work, is Nov. 11 and 12 at locations throughout the city. An November exhibit at ArtSpace in Hartford features one work for each artist in Open Studio, as well as a map of artists’ locations. A related event, “Ekphrasis: Poetry, Music & Dance Inspired by Visual Art,” is Nov. 18 at ArtSpace, followed by an after-party. openstudiohartford.com.
City-Wide Open Studios of New Haven dedicates four weekends, each a different neighborhood or building, to showcasing local artists’ work. An opening reception is Oct. 6 at ArtSpace. Oct. 7 and 8 is Westville weekend. Oct. 14 and 15 is Armory weekend. Oct. 21 and 22 is private studio weekend. Oct. 28 and 29 is Erector Square weekend. artspacenewhaven.org/cwos-home.
Loft Artists Association in Stamford opens its studios Nov. 3 to 5. loftartists.com.
Bridgeport Art Trail runs Nov. 9 to 12 and includes a party, a ballet, a concert, a weekend of open studios and a viewing of a Chuck Close print donated to raise funds for the city schools’ arts program. bridgeport-art-trail.org.
Shoreline Arts Trail, an event in Branford, Guilford and Madison, is Nov. 11 and 12. shorelineartstrail.com.
Artists’ Open Studio of Northeastern Connecticut covers two weekends, Nov. 24, 25 and 26 and Dec. 2 and 3 in Ashford, Bolton, Canterbury, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Hampton, Killingly, Lebanon, Mansfield, Pomfret, Putnam, Stafford, Thompson, Tolland, Willington, Windham and Woodstock. aosct.org.
