Calendar of Events

Discover how MATRIX artist Matt Paweski mixes elements of architecture, furniture, and interior design in his work. Assemble a unique keepsake box with inspiration from the tabletop sculptures on view in the exhibition, and join our friends from ConnLUG and contribute to life-size furniture made entirely from LEGO pieces! Admission is free noon–2pm. 

Robert Wiesenberger, curator of contemporary projects at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., responds to Matt Paweski / MATRIX 191, drawing on his own critical and curatorial interest in the intersection of modern and contemporary art, design, and architecture. Wiesenberger discusses how Paweski’s sculptural work both aligns and breaks with tradition, and makes connections with the Wadsworth’s collection, buildings, and histories. Free with museum admission. Meet in front of the Museum Shop.

Taxile Maximin Doat (1851–1938) was one of the most important French ceramicists working at the turn of the twentieth century. Doat’s works are celebrated for his experimental glazes and technical achievements with pâte-sur-pâte (paste on paste) ornamentation. Linda Roth, curator of European decorative arts, explores the Wadsworth’s collection of ceramic works by Doat, including two recently acquired porcelain plates. Free with admission.

Taxile Doat, Plate, 1901. Porcelain. The European Decorative Arts Purchase Fund, 2019.16.2

Tour the exhibition Alexander Calder: Collaborative Creations with a docent and learn how artists’ combined efforts produce unique textiles. Be sure to lend your finishing touch to our community rug. Design a card using a variety of textures to give to someone you love. Sign up for an Eyes on Art Family Tour at 12:15pm. Admission is free noon–2pm.

Fashion periodicals including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar often highlighted the work of Alexander Calder (1898–1976) and his modernist contemporaries. The articles, which focused on all media as well as interior decorating that used Calder’s designs, were intended to educate women of fashion about current art and aesthetics for a well-rounded perspective beyond wearing stylish clothes. Collectively, they reveal that aspects of Calder’s work were marketed to broad audiences and fashion-savvy women to inform their artistic choices in home decoration and keep them informed about the art world. Join Ned Lazaro, the Wadsworth Atheneum’s associate curator of costumes and textiles, for a gallery talk about the intersection of Calder and fashion reporting in high fashion publications. Free with admission.

Salvator Rosa (1615–1673), one of the most eccentric painters of the Italian baroque, is celebrated for his unconventional approaches to portraiture, history painting, and landscape. Paintings conservator Allen Kosanovich examines an in-process treatment of Rosa’s Landscape with Tobias and the Angel (c. 1660), discussing how these efforts address over three centuries of aging and previous restoration. Free with admission.

Free to trade with the rest of the world after the American Revolution, citizens of the young United States found artistic inspiration at home and abroad. Explore the New Nation, Many Hands installation with Philippe Halbert, curator of American decorative arts, as he reveals how household goods, from ceramics and furniture to metalwork and textiles, combined practicality with patriotism in the early years of the United States. Free with admission. Meet in front of the Museum Shop. 

Image: Attributed to Abner Reed (American, 1771–1866), Sign for David Bissell’s Inn and Joseph Phelps’s Inn, 1777 and 1801, Paint on wood. Bequest of Emma Bell King, 1933.381

Tour the exhibition I Am Seen… and learn about the studio practices of the African American photographers of Frederick Douglass’s era. View a daguerreotype demonstration and observe how these one-of-a-kind images are created. Afterward, design a portrait and frame that captures your unique personality. Don’t forget to join our friends across the street at Center Church for additional family programming, including a performance by Nathan M. Richardson, renowned interpreter of Frederick Douglass. Find the Ice Cream for a Dream truck for free ice cream parked outside the museum while supplies last. Admission is free from noon–2pm.

Presented in collaboration with Center Church. 

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) is a towering figure in the history of art, and the Wadsworth’s bold quest to obtain one of his paintings inspired the Chasing Rembrandt exhibition. Oliver Tostmann, Susan Morse Hilles Curator of European Art, examines the works on view, discusses their changing history of attribution, and explores Rembrandt’s role as a historical artist and a modern media phenomenon. Free with admission. Meet in front of the Museum Shop.

For centuries, people have signaled their off-hours through their choice of what was often more casual and unstructured clothing. But despite casting off obligations and responsibilities, our fashion has remained as central to us during leisure hours as during our professional or formal moments. Join Associate Curator of Textiles Ned Lazaro for a tour on the final weekend of this Costume & Textiles installation of historic clothing dating from 1750 through 1950. See how past generations dressed—and looked—when they relaxed. Free with required reservation. Keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation and link to register.

Image: Ned Lazaro dressing a mannequin in preparation for Relax! Leisure and Style