VISIONS FROM HOME

SURREALISM IN CONNECTICUT

July 3, 2015 – October 18, 2015

Presented in conjunction with Peter Blume: Nature and Metamorphosis, Visions from Home: Surrealism in Connecticut examines the community of artists that flourished in western Connecticut beginning in the 1930s. The area’s quiet environs and open landscape offered a reprieve from the noise and congestion of city life. Many of these artists cited the rural surroundings and expansive views as a source of inspiration for their imagery and choice of subject. As friends and neighbors, their close contact often facilitated the exchange of ideas and techniques.

The exhibition features a selection of paintings, drawings, sculpture, and photographs by some of the artists that lived in this bohemian community that are also represented in the museum’s permanent collection. They include: American artists Peter Blume, Alexander Calder, Kay Sage, and European artists Arshile Gorky, André Masson, Yves Tanguy, and Pavel Tchelitchew. The area was also home to visionary collectors and art dealers such as Kirk Askew, A. Everett “Chick” Austin Jr., (Former Director of the Wadsworth Atheneum), Julien Levy, and James Thrall Soby.

The personal connections and relationships that developed between these artistic and social circles are illustrated using photographs, artists’ letters, and exhibition announcements from the archives of the Wadsworth Atheneum and the archives of the Julien Levy Gallery.

Visions from Home: Surrealism in Connecticut is organized by Erin Monroe, The Robert H. Schutz, Jr. Assistant Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture.

Related Programs:
July 16 | Gallery Talk with curator Erin Monroe
July 16 | Film: Without Gorky
July 18 | Film: Without Gorky
August 6 | Gallery Talk with Curator Robin Jaffee Frank
September 10 | Gallery talk with curators Erin Monroe and Oliver Tostmann
September 12 | Second Saturdays for Families: Fractured Landscapes

Press:
Hartford Courant, July 16, Vibrant Paintings of Modernist Peter Blume at Wadsworth by Susan Dunne

Exhibition Credit:
Visions from Home: Surrealism in Connecticut is generously supported by The Morris Joseloff Exhibition Fund, The William O. and Carole P. Bailey Exhibition Fund, The Howard Fromson Exhibition Fund, A gift of the Jean and Julien Levy Foundation for the Arts, Inc., and Lawrence Beneson.

Images from left:
Alexander Calder, The Praying Mantis, 1936, Painted and gessoed wood, iron rods, wire, and string, Purchased through the gift of Genry and Walkter Keney, 1938.275
Arshile Gorky, Untitled, 1943, Colored crayon with graphite on wove paper, The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1955.275
André Masson, Germination, 1942, Oil, wax, and sand on canvas, The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 2011.15.1