American Museum Toots Great Art

A great exhibit is going on and its open to the public in New Britain, Connecticut. I didn't just read about it or hear about it. Yes, admittedly I walked each foot and viewed each piece with a true art lover's appreciation. It's a show you can bring children, teens and the general public too. Great paintings, a great bench lover's presentation and fine bronze sculpture for the eyes of connoisseurs as well as novice museum and gallery "hoppers".

The real rave of course is the M.C. Escher exhibition, an illusionist and draftsman as well as print maker and post-modern artist, the work is remarkable. In fact, it's perfect. From dark birds flying in front of edge of light transforming to light birds flying in front of darkness, take a double take. Of course the famous "stair" pieces were shown from the originals. Certainly recognizable published pieces. What of a believable etching on limestone, one of the hardest of Connecticut quarry rock, all buffed and ready for printmaking. He does remind viewers of the famous ink drawings and prints of the Dutch master Albrecht Durer, but with the touch of mathematical and genius illusion, viewers really have to stop and take a look. Of course to be seen in the upstairs gallery for featured exhibits.

Other great shows included works by Frederick Edwin Church and Thomas Cole, some work on loan from the Wadsworth Atheneum. Works painted along the Hudson River and Niagara Falls, New York, in glory and grandeur of nature's raw and the artists' refinement, light moss green, deep black, purples, browns, light yellows and golds, with hints of flocks of birds against the immense mountain ranges and deep lakes. Absolutely perfect without a missing detail, the smallness of man's power against the greatness of the earth's natural forces. These artists created works between 1825 and 1875 termed as artists of the Hudson River School.

You wouldn't want to overlook the famous illustrated ship men painted by N. C. Wyeth painted in life-like color. The museum also tauts the work of Andrew Wyeth's self-portrait as a young man in an old New England studio. Can there be a range of that many whites as color in one picture? Surely if a Wyeth painted it.

The New Britain Museum of American Art at 56 Lexington Avenue does offer cooperative exhibits with the Wadsworth Atheneum in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. These two ventures in art do offer some of the real art icons worth that special trip to see, true to life. Both offer a cafeteria, outdoor seating, and museum book shop. The New Britain Museum also offers classes of special interest open for registration. Discounts are offered for students at the museum shop and for admission.