Tag Archives: Lyman Allyn Art Museum

Lyman Allyn Art Museum Unveils ‘Allison Gildersleeve: Here Somewhere,’ on View Through Jan. 18, 2026

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The signature work of Allison Gildersleeve’s exhibition at the Lyman Allyn Museum is ‘Split Screen’, 2024, oil on canvas. The image above shows a detail from the painting. Photo courtesy of Lyman Allyn Museum.

NEW LONDON – On Friday, Oct. 10, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum hosted an opening reception for its newest exhibition, “Allison Gildersleeve: Here Somewhere.”

The collection – described by the museum as a series of richly layered paintings in which “time is not sequential, and location is not fixed” – will be on view through Jan.18, 2026.

The museum in a press release said Gildersleeve was raised in a colonial farmhouse surrounded by woods in southeastern Connecticut. The artist returns to the familiar settings of her childhood — wooded areas, home interiors, open highways, and backcountry roads — to show that repeated visits to the same place invariably result in wildly divergent depictions. 

“I paint environments as they present themselves to me: as dynamic, ever-changing places thick with anticipation, dread, happiness, calm,” Gildersleeve said. “These are experiential landscapes — settings filled with the presence of human activity and emotion even though no people are painted within them. I use photographs I have taken in the same locale over a tenyear period as source material, but the paintings are never derived from just one take.” 

The opening reception is free for museum members. Non-members are $10. To register, call 860-443-2545 ext. 2129 or email info@lymanallyn.org.

This exhibition has been made possible with support from an anonymous foundation. Funding is also provided by the Department of Economic and Community Development’s Office of the Arts. 

Renaissance Masterworks by Albrecht Dürer Take Center Stage at Lyman Allyn through November

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Included in the exhibit is Dürer’s “Joachim and the Angel,” ink on paper.

NEW LONDON–The Lyman Allyn Art Museum has announced the opening of “Albrecht Dürer: Master Prints,” featuring over 40 woodblock prints and engravings from  the German Renaissance master printmaker. 

The exhibit will run through Nov. 30. 

The museum in a press release described Dürer (1471-1528) as an extraordinary innovator who revolutionized printmaking.

The exhibition features a selection of Dürer’s prints, including two woodcuts from his celebrated Apocalypse (1498), his engraved Adam and Eve (1504) and his Meisterstiche (master engraving) of Saint Jerome in His Study (1514). All sixteen prints from Dürer’s Engraved Passion (1507-12) will be on view, along with examples of his Small Woodcut Passion cycle (1508-10), and his Life of the Virgin (1503-10). Several compositions by some of the artist’s most influential contemporaries and predecessors are included, with examples by Albrecht Altdorfer and Martin Schongauer, among others.  

Born in Nuremberg, Dürer apprenticed under his goldsmith father and under the Nuremberg painter and printmaker Michael Wolgemut. He soon rose to prominence, utilizing his skill and ambition to produce increasingly accomplished drawings, paintings, and prints. After several years of travel and work in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, Dürer returned to Nuremberg to focus on printmaking. Dürer’s woodblock prints and engravings brought printmaking to a new level of sophistication, establishing an international reputation for the artist.  

Lyman Allan Curator Tanya Pohrt said Dürer redefined printmaking in the early 1500s. 

“Visitors will have the unique opportunity to explore the artist’s exceptional mastery of a remarkably complex medium,” she said. 

The exhibit is organized by the Reading Public Museum of Pennsylvania. Additional works from Connecticut College’s Wetmore Print Collection will be featured in the exhibition. Funding comes from an anonymous foundation as well as the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

The museum at 625 Williams Street, New London, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 5 p.m. For more information call 860-443-2545, ext. 2129 or visit www.lymanallyn.org.

Paintings at Lyman Allyn Chronicle Artistic Transformation of David J. Marchi

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David J. Marchi, Earth Wave, 2023, mixed media, 50 x 50 in. Image courtesy of the Lyman Allyn Art Museum.

NEW LONDON—The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is currently featuring an exhibition titled, David J. Marchi: Break on Through, a series of abstract paintings documenting the artist’s unexpected transformation. The show runs through Oct. 19.

The museum in a press release said Marchi had never painted before a life-altering boating accident in 2015. Suddenly compelled to paint, he left his previous profession to embrace the world of art.

He was subsequently diagnosed with acquired savant syndrome, according to the release. Marchi is one of only about 50 documented cases of this syndrome worldwide.

Layering colors, patterns, and methods of paint application, the museum said Marchi utilizes gesture, physicality, and unusual materials and methods to produce vibrant, large-scale canvases. He often works from vivid dreams that lay out colors and structures for him to follow.

Marchi has studied with artists Ronnie Landfield, Larry Poons, Pat Lipski and Peter Bonner at the Art Students League of New York.

Marchi also draws on his experiences to help instruct students with disabilities. His story shows creativity lives within everyone, regardless of experience or background, serving as a reminder that art can be a profound tool for recovery, connection, and transformation.

Lyman Allyn Art Museum Director Sam Quigley said working with Marchi to produce the exhibition was rewarding for everyone involved.

“His artistic brilliance, passion for life, and generosity of spirit is deeply appreciated,” Quigley said. “We are delighted to feature his work in our Near::New series of contemporary exhibitions, a series that celebrates the artists among us.”

This exhibition was made possible with support from an anonymous foundation, and from the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s Office of the Arts.

Word-Based Paintings by John Boone on View at Lyman Allyn Through Aug. 10

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Lyman Allyn Art Museum presents “John Boone – WHATSWHAT” through Aug. 10.

NEW LONDON –Lyman Allyn Art Museum will hold an opening reception for its latest exhibit, “John Boone – WhatsWhat,” on Friday, May 2, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The exhibit of word-based paintings will continue through Aug. 10. 

The museum in a press release said Boone, who is based in Stonington and Brooklyn, NY, has long explored text-based art in his studio practice. His work has been shown at many museums and galleries, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. 

The exhibit features a selection of more than 50 of Boone’s paintings from 1994 to the present, with several groupings that explore a key word with a range of associations. 

The museum said the paintings challenge viewers to think about language, technology, advertising, and how people communicate with each other.  

“So, what does the installation of WHATSWHAT mean?” Boone said in the release. “There are many ways of looking for meaning. This exhibition can be thought of as an illustration, a model, and a review of how we go about things. Or it could be seen as an ensemble of prompts waiting for your answers.”

Boone’s recent solo exhibitions include the Boca Raton Museum of Art, the Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, and the Mystic Museum of Art. His work is held in a variety of public and private collections, with commissions that include a sign flown over Berlin, a street mural in Prague, eight murals laser-etched in glass for the Hudson Bergen Light Rail in Jersey City, and a granite compass at the Key West Botanical Garden.

The opening reception is free to museum members. Non-members are $10. To register, call 860-443-2545 ext. 2129 or email info@lymanallyn.org.

This exhibition has been made possible with support from an anonymous foundation. Funding has also been provided by the Connecticut State Legislature, administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts.