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The Muse Newsletter of the Slater Memorial Museum Winter 2008

Norwich, City of Inspiration: Part II, Jean Leon Gérome at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Into the Twentieth Century where Norwich Art School director Ozias Dodge By Vivian F. Zoë would study, learning classical figure by drawing from casts, or “drawing from the When we last examined the topic of Norwich’s antique.” service as artists’ motif, we began as early as the th th late 18 century and carried on into the late 19 His experience in exposed him to Plein century. From that time to the present day, artists Aire painting, the school, and to have been inspired by the Rose City and the proof American expatriate James MacNeil Whistler, exists in collections that include that of the Slater known for his loose brushwork and focus on tone. Museum. Weir was still not convinced about , though, and is said to have written home angrily complaining about the exhibition of this new style in 1874.

He established a studio in , supporting himself and his wife by teaching and portraiture. He became affiliated with , John Twachtman and other early American Impressionists and with , where a number of the impressionists spent summers painting and where his wife’s family had property. J. Alden Weir; River Scene Near Norwich oil on canvas c. 1895 Weir digressed from his earlier idealized and floral American to focus on scenes of industrial landscapes in and around Windham J. Alden Weir (1852-1919) was the youngest of where he spent summers. Included in this group sixteen children of Robert W. Weir, artist and art are several of the granite mills of instructor at West Point Military Academy. As Willimantic, Connecticut, and an occasional view a result, his early training was academic and of Norwich, the mid-point between Windham and classical. At 18, he enrolled at the National Old Lyme, where a number of his contemporaries Academy School in New York and from 1873 to were painting at Florence Griswold’s boarding 1877, he studied in Europe, including Paris with house. (Continued on page 3) A Message from the Director As the holidays draw to a close and a new year begins, I look to the excitement of planning for our ground breaking at the end of the school year. This will mark the beginning we have all awaited with my part to this point having been very small. A new architect has been engaged to design one of the most complex and important new structures on Campus. Dubose Associates of Hartford will create a design intended to do much but to virtually “disappear” into the existing built environment of the Slater, Converse, Gymnasiums and Cranston buildings. The goal is to provide universal access to the museum and other buildings … the much awaited elevator. As we proceed through the planning and construction, I will keep you up to date on the progress of this exciting project. In the meantime, we will be doing our best to continue museum programming and planning for exciting new exhibitions. My very best to you all in the New year. Upcoming Exhibitions, Programs and Events Sunday, January 6, 2008 Ghanaian Sojourn: The People, Cultural Celebrations, Art, 2:00 p.m. Crafts and Natural Sites of Ghana - A lecture presented by For- mer Fulbright Scholar, Edward M. Goldberg Saturday, January 19, 2008 Eastern Connecticut State University professor and storyteller 3:00 p.m. Raouf Mama performs - A special presentation for visitors of all ages Sunday, February 24, 2008 65th Annual Connecticut Artist Juried Exhibition Opening Reception and Award Ceremony

The Muse is published up to four times yearly for the members of The Friends of the Slater Memorial Museum. The museum is located at 108 Crescent Street, Norwich, CT 06360. It is part of The , 305 Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360. Museum main telephone number: (860) 887-2506. The museum’s Website is linked to that of NFA: www.norwichfreeacademy.com Museum Director – Vivian F. Zoë Newsletter editor – Geoff Serra Contributing authors: Vivian Zoë, Leigh Smead and Patricia Flahive Photographers: Leigh Smead, Alexandra van den Berg, Vivian Zoë

The president of the Friends of the Slater Memorial Museum: Patricia Flahive

The Norwich Free Academy Board of Trustees: Robert A. Staley ’68, Chair * Steven L. Bokoff ’72, Vice Chair Jeremy D. Booty ‘74 Richard DesRoches * Abby I. Dolliver ‘71 Lee-Ann Gomes ‘82, Treasurer Thomas M. Griffin ‘70 Joseph A. Perry ’60 Dr. Mark E. Tramontozzi ’76 Theodore N. Phillips ’74 David A. Whitehead ’78, Secretary *Museum sub-committee

The Norwich Free Academy does not discriminate in its educational programs, services or employment on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, color, handicapping condition, age, marital status or sexual orientation. This is in accordance with Title VI, Title VII, Title IX and other civil rights or discrimination issues; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991.  (Continued from page 1) Weir participated in organizing the iconic 1913 Armory Show in New York, which introduced avant-garde European art, including that of Pablo Picasso to the American public. Five years after his death in 1919, the Metropolitan Museum in New York mounted a retrospective of his work. Weir’s River Scene Near Norwich is immediately identifiable as American impressionism. While we can see that there are structures built along the river (most likely the Thames), they are indistinct and lack the documentary quality of John Denison Crocker’s, Fitz Henry Lane’s and Alvan Fisher’s Corn Husking Laurel Hill detailed, illustrative renderings. Ozias Dodge, oil on canvas, nd Collection of the Slater Museum The much younger Ozias Dodge (1868-1926) was born in Vermont where the wilderness was Dodge left Halifax for study under Jean Gérome in familiar to him as a boy. A Native American, Paris, at the École des Beaux Arts whose main goals whom Ozias recalled as “Indian Joe” was hired as were to provide free instruction and to promote a farm hand and became close to the family. He equality among the students. Its curriculum was taught the boy wilderness skills which may have based on modern aesthetic thinking, in which contributed to an leg injury which forced him into simplicity, grandeur, cleanness and harmony were a lengthy convalescence. During this, he spent the fundamental characteristics. To best embody his time drawing, leading to a life in art. this modern aesthetic, the students studied works of art from Greek and Roman Antiquity, this no Upon graduation from Yale in 1891, he received an doubt helped prepare Dodge for directorship of award for “Masterly Drawing” and a scholarship the Norwich Art School! to continue his studies at the Art Students League in New York, where the use of plaster casts for Aside from the many American artists who “life” drawing was still very much an element of studied under Gérome, Degas, Monet, Renoir, training at the League. From the League, Dodge and Sisley had all studied at the Ècole shortly became headmaster of the Victoria School of Art before. These so-called “Realists” established and Design in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, themselves in the forest at Fontainebleau near the where he used the urban environment as fodder for town of Barbizon, discovering their motifs in the his creative mill. Examining a series of grisailles, rural countryside, something Ozias would mimic oil paintings in Norwich. in black, white and grays, from His affection for the woodlands can be seen in this period in his etching of Norwich’s Trading Cove. Much the collection of Ozias’ later artwork, and that held in the of the Slater collections of the Slater Museum, recalls his reveals both his rural boyhood and his exposure to the Barbizon draftsmanship School. His oil paintings Corn Huskers, Apple and sensitivity Gatherers and Potato Diggers are reminiscent to the subjects. of the work of Millet and Corot, painters whose work Ozias would have studied in Paris. In Trading Cove these, he celebrates the natural and agricultural Ozias Dodge, environment as well as those who were essential etching, nd to making life possible: fishermen, farmers and Collection of the peddlers. Slater Museum  invited to James MacNeil Whistler’s Art Club in Ozias’ etchings London and to France. At the outbreak of World of the typical War I, all trade and communication with Europe but precarious were abruptly severed and the Belgian paper upon p e r s p e c t i v e s which the “Norwich Film” and Ozias’ innovation Norwich offered depended was a casualty. Nevertheless, the two include views color etching process used to today is essentially looking down Dodge’s technology. Mediterranean Lane from the ridge Ozias Dodge, etching, nd Collection of the Slater Museum above his home According to Slater Museum director of over treetops Education, Mary-Anne Hall, Margaret Lauren to the roofs below as seen in the etchings Mediterranean Lane and School House, Norwichtown. The fact that Norwich had become an urban industrial metropolis by the time Ozias and Hannah arrived in 1897 did not escape him, however and he treated mechanical structures with the same aesthetic and sensitivity. His affection for the industrial as well as the rural is evident in his etching Chappell Coal, which makes what in other hands might appear dirty, dingy and ugly, elegant, mysterious and fascinating. Chappell Coal As director of the Norwich Art School, Ozias Dodge, etching, nd Dodge taught “Preparatory, Antique, Life and Collection of the Slater Museum Illustration.” The Art School catalogue of the Dodge era proclaims, “After a year spent in Triplett (1904?-1991) was born in South Dakota learning to draw from the casts, the student is able and grew up in Iowa, where her interest in art to decide upon a course of study which will lead to developed. She earned a B. A. Degree from some practical result.” In 1908, Ozias published the State University of Iowa and continued her Experiments in Producing Printing Surfaces. And studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1910, left the Academy to pursue his invention in Boston from 1927-1929, receiving a Master of of a two-color etching process. The U.S. Library Arts Degree from Yale University in 1942. of Congress and the New York Public Library acquired portfolios of his etchings, and his work is While studying at the Museum School, Miss represented in the collections of the Smithsonian Triplett was approached by Charlotte Fuller Institute and the Fine Arts Museum of San Eastman, then director of the Norwich Art School Francisco. He began (NAS) who was searching for a teacher to complete to enjoy considerable the semester of a departing faculty member. That respect and acclaim led to a career at NAS spanning over forty years. for the artistry and She was an art instructor from 1929 until 1944 technology of his two- and then served as NAS’s Director from 1944 to color process. He was 1970. Trading Cove Ozias Dodge, etch- A prolific painter, Miss Triplett studied during the ing, nd summer at art colonies with such artists as George Collection of the Bridgeman, Grant Wood, Hans Hoffman, Robert Slater Museum Brackman and Kimon Nicolaides and attended the Art Students League in New York for workshops. (Continued on page 7)  Friends of Slater Museum Current Members as of November 2007

Please note: We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this list. If we inadvertently omitted your name, we apologize. Please let us know by calling 860-425-5563.

LIFE Richard C. Hamar Walter & Sue Chojnacki Jeffery Blinderman Michael & Carol Lahan Dr. Robert & Linda Crootof Angelo B. Brocchi Dr. Sultan Ahamed Arthur & Gigi H. Liverant Michael & Mary Driscoll David & Kathy Burley Ron Aliano Elizabeth D. Sager James J. & Nancy Dutton, Jr. Lois Burnham Nina Barclay Gurdon & Helen Slosberg David G. & M. Torrey Fenton Foster Caddell Dr. June Bradlaw Neil Sullivan Caroleen Frey & Gordon James Clark Robert Allyn Brand Richard G. Treadway, Sr. Kyle Brian Cofone Valerie K. Foran Carter Douglas & Karen Welch Evan & Jean M. Gilman Carol B. Connor Mr. & Mrs. Leo Christmas Margaret S. Wilson Richard & Katherine Haffey Barbara Cordell Baron Thomas Shannon Gladys L. Haynes Judyth Crystal Foran CONTRIBUTOR Linda Healy & Al Bouchard Kathleen Cummings Ruth Ellen Gallup Michael E. & Donna L. Patricia Dean Charles M. & Mary Jane Sandra Ann Bosko Jewell Sadie Davidson DeVore Gilman Dr. Larry & Elaine Coletti Norman & Suzanne Jordan, Nancy DiTullio Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Gualtieri Paul R. Duevel Jr. Frances J. Donnelly Mr. & Mrs. David R. Hinkle Richard & Marcia Erickson Drs. M. E. & Joan Kadish Geraldine Exley Mr. & Mrs. Wally Lamb John & Patricia Flahive Carol H. Kelleher George T. Finn Sheldon & Marcelle Levine Laurent T. & Karin Genard, Mr. & Mrs. Charles L. Kroll Joanne Forson Edwin O. Lomerson III Jr. Arthur & Ann Lathrop Susan Frankenbach Stanley M. Lucas Cynthia L. Gerlach John E. & Agnes Luby Mary P. Fuller Patricia McCloy Dr. Leonard & Joan E. John Paul & Nancy Mereen Nancy L. Gordon David H. & Cathy Meiklem Greene Michael E. Minzy Mary-Anne Hall Jonathan S. Rickard Nancie B. Greenman Charles F. & Marie E. Noyes Sherre Jackson Grace Sears Muriel B. Jacobson Dr. & Mrs. Michael T. Bernadette Kalinowski Jean Stencel Dr. Morris E. Katz Phillips Merrill Keeley Celine Sullivan Ruth S. Kirsch Dr. Bernard J. & Nancy Mr. D. William Kelleher Sheila K. Tabakoff Donald & Melody Leary Podurgiel Elizabeth H. Kelly Elizabeth A. Theve Deborah Lee Charles & Doreen O. Rossoll Kathleen Lavallee Dr. Patricia C. Thevenet George Lee, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Martin Rutchik Joy S. Leary Dr. & Mrs. Anthony Janet MacKay Dr. J. David & Chris Sawyer Mildred P. Lescoe Tramontozzi Robert L. & Jeanne V. Gary & Barbara Schnip Katherine H. Mann Paul Zimmerman Methot Jerome & Marian Silverstein James R. Marshall, III Frank T. Novack John & Mary Jo Sisco Dr. Thomas J. Masterson BENEFACTOR Evelyn Putman Harvey & Michele Snitkin Eleanor J. Miller John M. Rogers, Jr. Susan Spak Catherine Monahan Louis Burzycki Robert Saunders Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Stockton Gary Palmer Bett Schissler Harry & Selma Swatsburg Elizabeth Pite SUSTAINOR Lottie B. Scott Liz Van & John Pratt Kenneth Przybysz Barbara Wojtkiewicz Marianna Wilcox Katherine E. Schmitt Richard & Anne Sharpe Nathan & Sheryl Wolfman Buriss G. & Donna M. Gloria Sessions Joseph R. Wolter Wilson Poul Sterregaard PATRON Matt Turpin FAMILY INDIVIDUAL Michele Gill Tycz William J. & Elizabeth Abell Garnet Wrigley Olive J. Buddington Ralph & Barbara Bergman Carol A. Adams Barbara Castagnaro Steven & Cathy Bokoff Valerie Andrews SENIOR Dr. Wayne F. & Geraldine O. J. Steele & Corinna Brown William E. Bartol Diederich Dr. & Mrs. S. Pearce Mara G. Beckwith Kathleen D. Amatangelo Dr. Malcolm & Mary Edgar, Browning III Geri-Anne Benning Albert Angelbeck Jr. Paul & Rosemary Brulotte  Florence Betten Kathleen Arnold Denison N. & Margot Gibbs Joanna Case & Les Olin Jane Blanshard David & Priscilla W. Baillie 5 SENIOR cont. Nancy E. Dubin Agnes B. Lotring Francesca Rudolph Frank M. & Harriett K. Erna Luering Lawrence V. & Mary Sarni Carole J. Barnard Falcone Alexandra Malone Leo P. Savoie Genevieve Bergendahl John & Marianna Fells Maureen C. Martin Gloria Sessions Mary Ann Biziewski Eugene H. & Florence Frank Dr. Thomas J. Masterson Shirlee H. Sheathelm Frances C. Blanchette Anita Friedland Helen M. McGuire Paul E. Shelley Armand Bouley Lester Frye Augusta McPadden Matthew M. Sheridan Barbara Brown Diana Gill Patricia Mereen Emil Soderberg Hazel Brown Beverly S. Gordon John & Josephine Merrill Mariea D. Spencer Kenneth & Xenia Albert Gosselin Mr. & Mrs. Robert Mohr Elaine Sylvia Bujnowski Albert Gualtieri Nancy L. Neiman-Hoffman Joseph L. Torchia Carol A. Cieslukowski Antoinette F. Gwiazdowski Pam J. Nelson Mary Case Tourtellotte James Coleman Helen C. Gwiazdowski Irene Nichols Dr. & Mrs. Felix Trommer Dr. Thomas J. Cook Sara Haroun Diane A. Norman Tekla Wirhun Wanda Cornell Florence F. Hill Frances Ogulnick Donald L. & Barbara L. Roger Crossgrove Margie Hnatiuk Sara O’Hearn Zuccardy Marilyn Cruthers William J. & Joan T. Hoyle John K. Pereira Dr. Leonard Zuckerbraun Alice E. Cubanski Olive D. Isakson Anne Bingham Pierson M.D. Joseph J. Czapski Careen Jennings Constance A. Pike STUDENT Maurica D’Aquila Gwendoline B. Kay Rev. Dr. Wayne D. Pokorny Sara G. Dembrow Dorothy Bosch Keller Nancy Davis Pratviel Grace Cardin Hannah Desio Maryann Kouyoumjian Louise Quarto Ellen Gunther Janice Dibattista-Allen Assunta D’Elia Kozel Katherine B. Richardson Dave Krevolin Ms. H. Jane Dibble Marguerite Learned-Daigle Edward Rogalski Shih-Po Sun Kathleen D. Dixon Valerie J. Leger Betty A. Rokowski

Slater Museum Loans Bring Recognition The Slater Memorial Museum was recently featured in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review because of its loans to the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art. In addition, the Slater anticipates equal recognition in California for the loan of the 120-year-old full-scale plaster cast of The Dying Gaul.

The Carnegie’s exhibition, entitled On A Grand Scale, opened September 28 and commemorates that museum’s centennial anniversary of its remarkable cast collection. In his September 16 article, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Art Critic Kurt Shaw said “Carnegie first came upon the idea of creating a great hall of architectural casts after touring (on May 2, 1891) the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich, Conn., with that museum’s curator, Henry Watson Kent.”

Carnegie was so impressed with Kent and the collection that he asked Kent to be an adviser on the project. Included in the exhibition is one of Kent’s original sketchbooks from a European expedition, as well as a log book from the opening of the Slater Memorial Museum that is signed by artists Theodore (sic) Twachtman and Augustus St. Gaudens, and Isabella Stuart Gardner, the influential American art collector, philanthropist and patron of the arts whose collection is now housed in the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston.

The J. Paul Petty Museum in Malibu, California is borrowing the Slater’s copy of the Dying Gaul, for its latest exhibition, entitled The Color of Life, which opens March 6 and will focus on “polychrome sculpture”. This was the ancient phenomenon of painting stone sculpture with flesh tones and details such as hair color, red lips and bloody wounds.

The Slater Museum has been engaged for over a year in examining and assessing the condition of its cast collection. The Dying Gaul was X- rayed a year ago and found to be structurally sound. The Conservation Laboratory at the Getty will clean and execute minimal repairs to extremities of the cast before its exhibition there. Making loans to other institutions is common among museums and encourages both The Dying Gaul is carried down the main staircase collegiality and public awareness. of the Slater Museum 6 (Continued from page 4) Her original intent Armory Show of 1913. .Like Margaret Triplett, was to be a portrait they adopted an academic , depicting urban painter, working in and rural scenes, celebrating and romanticizing oils. She gradually everyday American life. became interested in working with Lou Bonamarte (1933-) was a founder in 1975 t r a n s p a r e n t of the Lyme Academy of , Old Lyme, watercolor. In an Connecticut. He was born in New London and undated article spent many years roaming the piers and shoreline by Ms. Hall, Ms not far from his home, sketching and painting in Triplet is quoted watercolor. At his high school graduation, he “ E x p r e s s i o n received the Dr. Lena award for excellence in art. of movement, reflections and In 1953 Bonamarte volunteered for two years of House on the Green double images, service in the U.S. Army attached to the Special Margaret Triplett, nd as well as the Services Division, Headquarters Company Collection of the Slater Museum emotional qualities Fort Carson, Colorado. He left the Army in of color, became 1955 with an honorable discharge and moved important to me. The best paintings captured to New York to pursue his obsession with art. the ‘look’ of a place and at the same time made He studied watercolor with John Pike and soon an abstract design an expressive emotional after became a member of Grand Central Art statement.” Galleries under the direction of Erwin Barrie.

The artist’s extensive travels throughout the Bonamarte’s works have exhibited in Canada, United States and abroad influenced her work Paris, France, and The American Consulate greatly. She kept detailed journals and diaries in in Hong Kong. His solo shows include the sketchbooks as she traveled. Her first one-person Slater Museum, Lyman Allyn Museum, show was at the Morton Galleries in New York in New London, Grand Central Art Galleries 1939. She was a trustee of the Hartford Art School, and Mystic Seaport Maritime Gallery. now of the University of Hartford, a member of the Connecticut Watercolor Society, Active Artist Lou Bonamarte lives and continues to work at Member of the Mystic Art Association (now called the Lou Bonamarte Studio Gallery in Clinton, the Mystic Arts Center) and served as president of Connecticut. Major awards he has received the Connecticut Arts Association and the Gamma include The Herb Olsen Watercolor Award; Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International. American Water Color Society; Gold Medal Award She had several one-person shows in New York for Watercolor American Artists Professional and New England including a retrospect of fifty League, Regional; and the Gold Medal Award years of work, held at Eastern Connecticut State Academic Artists Association. University in 1985. Bonamarte’s City Hall, Norwich, reflects a Her watercolor Shadow, is painted in the style mid-twentieth century sensibility in its loose of the American scene, a depression era-inspired application of color that leads, nevertheless, to movement that would later be called a strikingly realistic representation of the scene. or Midwest Regionalism and . The The picture virtually dances with life, its streets American scene was a naturalist style prominent wet with recent rain. Birds flutter under a stormy from the 1920s through 1940s in the U. S. After sky but the birthday cake of a building rests World War I, many American artists rejected pristine and sparkling in the oncoming sun. modern styles like impressionism, , and that arose from the fabled New York Raymond James Holden (1901-1984?) was  a native of vigor – Holden’s is a sharp and sympathetic W r e n t h a m , eye.” Massachusetts, g r a d u a t i n g Earlier, the Slater Museum had exhibited his from the Rhode watercolors of New England towns and cities in Island School of the fall of 1978. Included were works depicting Design in 1923. Christmas, Commonwealth Ave, Boston; Chester, B e g i n n i n g Vermont Railroad Station; Light House, York, in 1937, he Maine; and Charles Round’s Mill, North Sterling, Norwich Court House resided most Connecticut. In an un-attributed article in The Lou Bonamarte, watercolor on of his life in Sunday Courier of the Norwich Bulletin, dated paper, nd North Sterling, October 1, 1978, the writer asserts that “Holden’s Collection of the Slater Museum Connecticut. realistic watercolors are marked by a fluid and In an undated, yet sensitive handling of the media (sic) and un-attributed press release issued by the Slater high regard for tradition. Each work captures Museum, he is credited with illustrating ten the flavor of New England and a nostalgic look books and creating Christmas card designs for at its past. Of particular interest to local residents the American Artist Group of New York for forty are Franklin Square and Main Street, Norwich, years. Holden is known for illustrating the work circa 1898, when traffic consisted primarily of of great American authors like Henry David pedestrians, trolley cars, horse and buggies and Thoreau’s A Week on the Concord and Merrimack in the case of the winter scene of Main Street, River and Cape Cod, (The Heritage Press 1941- horse drawn sleighs.” 1968?) and The Poems of John Greenleaf Whittier (The Limited Editions Club 1945) and It should be noted that Holden was working at The Flowering of New England by Brooks, Van a time, around the middle of the 20th century, Wyck (The Limited Editions Club, 1941). A when the Colonial Revival was the rage. A number of these were pencil drawing illustrations number of New England artists and philosophers, signed, R.J. Holden. He produced local scenes with Wallace Nutting leading the way, were of Southeastern Connecticut including a winter romanticizing the 18th century and through art, watercolor of Sterling, CT, 1966. His Christmas photography, reproduction furniture, decorating cards included images of children in churchyards and house design, glorifying the life style of an and waterside villages. earlier era, while ignoring its hardships.

R. J. Holden donated drawings and publishing When contemplating the work of both Bonamarte proofs from the books to the Slater Museum, and Holden, it is certainly worth noting that which exhibited them in Converse Art Gallery in early 1985. In it, R. J. Holden’s work was combined with the Slater’s objects representing “The Early American Kitchen”. Writing in The Day of New London on February 2, 1985, Day Art critic Michael Smith described “Holden’s pictures [as having] a neat clarity of technique and a strong air of documentary responsibility … These landscapes, townscapes, and architectural details transport the viewer into the same world as the kitchen show. Portraits of [poets] [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow, [Ralph Waldo] Emerson, Main Street, looking East, ca. 1898 and [Henry David] Thoreau with their assertive R. J. Holden, watercolor on paper, 1978 noses radiate their particular forms of intellectual Collection of the Slater Museum  watercolor is one of the most underestimated media. Although it is usually the paint medium His favorite subjects were landscapes as he assigned to children’s inaugural artistic forays, captured the salt marshes of the Connecticut rivers, watercolor is one of the most difficult media to woods and glades, rocky pastures, overlooks handle. The skill of these two artists is evidenced and old oak trees. And his love of New England by the clarity of color and detail in their work. is evident---the rocky seacoast and harbors In both cases, there is the quality of architectural of Maine and the woods, barns, stone walls, rendering and historical documentation. farms, country roads, mountains and streams of New Hampshire and Vermont. Color-filled A contemporary of R. J. Holden’s Roger Wilson summer gardens were always a favorite subject. Dennis (1902 - 1996) was a Norwich native who was considered one of Connecticut’s premier In 1993, Roger Dennis was the subject of an Impressionist painters. Often called a “link with hour-long “Art Talk” television feature entitled the best of the past,” he knew and worked with “Through the Eyes of Roger Dennis” sponsored many of the Lyme Colony artists who made the by the Griffis Art Center. In June 1997, the Roger Florence Griswold House their headquarters at the W Dennis Impressionist Garden was dedicated turn of the century. He was devoted to the Lyme in his memory on the grounds of the Griffis Art Art Association and its members, and served Center in New London, Connecticut. on the Exhibition Committee for many years. While Norwich Landscape may not reflect our In the early 1930s, he studied with James present image of Norwich, it is most likely a McManus at the Art Students League in view that was not difficult to find in the “Nine Hartford; with Allen Cochran in Woodstock, Mile Square” well into the 20th century. The New York; and Emile Gruppe in Gloucester. juxtaposition of urban against rural in Norwich has only recently been overtaken by suburban After working as a sign painter for the city of New development. The painting reveals a relatively London, as well as a part-time musician and artist, classic Impressionist sensibility, where the snow he studied painting conservation and restoration. reflects a rainbow of color as do the shadows of He established and continued the Conservation the distant hills. department at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum for thirty-three years. During this time, he was While this review of the subject can hardly also a Conservator for the Connecticut Historical be called comprehensive and has ignored Society in Hartford and had the opportunity to photography, work on the preservation of many styles and the breadth of types of art for museums and private collections. styles, media and techniques His earlier works are more realistic is inspiration representational, but later developed into his own to continue the style of Impressionism. Like many of the Old Lyme pursuit of the Impressionists, he painted the local landscape at Rose City as different times of day and in different seasons of artists’ muse. the year, evoking changing moods. The mood of Norwich Landscape Sources : the weather often determined his brushstroke... Roger Dennis, oil on canvas, nd A g r a n o v i t c h , sometimes quick and with a sketchy look where Dorothy. Hannah Collection of the Slater Museum and Ozias Dodge, his brushwork left white canvas showing between an Effect on Education? ,Norwich: The Norwich Free Academy, the colors, and other times using heavy impasto 1970(?). Doreen Bolger Burke, J. Alden Weir: An American Impressionist. of layered and expressive colors. His sense of Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1983 color, light and shadow have a quality of charm Dodge, Hannah. Ozias Dodge 1868 – 1925. Norwich: Norwich and beauty and the joy of execution is apparent. Free Academy, 1958.  “Ècole des Beaux Arts.” [Online] Available http://www.ensba.fr/English/index.asp, 19 May 2006. Gilman, William C. Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Settlement of the Town of Norwich. Norwich: Norwich Quarter Millennial Celebration Committee, 1912. ______, “History,” Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University [Online]Available http://www.nscad.ns.ca/about/history_ 1.php, 19 May 2006. Langren, Marchal E. Years of Art: the Story of the Art Students League of New York. New York: Robert M. BcBride & Co., 1940. Unless otherwise noted, the history of the League and quotations have been taken from Langren. Efforts have been made to avoid duplicating possible errors contained in Langren’s text, and account for inconsistencies that may exist between Langren’s history and this essay. Lawrence Campbell of the League has provided corrections and supplemental information in some cases. Lathrop, Arthur Lester, Victorian Norwich, Connecticut, Salem, MA: Higginson Book Company, 1999. Pisano, Ronald G., A Brief History of The League’s Early Years, From “The Art Students League: Selections from the Permanent Collection” 1987, [Online] Available http://www.theartstudentsleague.org/Navigation/Home/HP-FRAME.html, 19 May 2006. Phagan, Patricia, Ed. The American Scene and the South: Paintings and Works on Paper, 1930-1946: Essays by: Matthew Baigell; Patricia Phagan; William U. Eiland; Richard Cox; Martha R. Severens; Leslie King-Hammond, 1996; Soucy, Donald and Pearse, Harold. The First Hundred Years: A History of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Halifax: The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1993 [Online] Available http://www.nscad.ns.ca/press/pressfirst100yrs. php, 19 May 2006.

Slater Memorial Museum Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Closed to the public on Mondays and holidays

Visitors may park in designated visitor parking spaces or any empty parking place on campus. Parking is difficult between 1:30 and 2:15 p.m. during school days due to the school buses. The museum’s main telephone number is (860) 887-2506. A recording will provide information on current exhibitions, days of operation, directions, admission fees and access to staff voice mailboxes. Our Webpage is linked to the NFA Website. www.norwichfreeacademy.com.