A Diamond in the Ruff

Sometimes you find a diamond in a ruff, and the New Britain American Museum Of Modern Art is definitely a gem to be cherish. Founded by private citizens for the enjoyment and education of the public, the museum focus exclusively on American art spanning more than 250 years.

Here are some of the treasures that I enjoyed during my visit.

Carl Lundgren's "Holy Man". Given the appearance that he is directly staring at the viewer with his hands held up questioning the existence of life through time, and is life always complete.

“The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy” by Graydon Parrish. This painting was commission to commemorate the tragedy of ‘911’. In the back ground you can see the skyline of Manhattan.

In the foreground appearing to be standing on an Island are two figures standing in the middle blind folding symbolizing the ‘Twin Towers’. The blind folds represents the innocence humanity faces and how blind fate can be.

From realism to science fiction, “Twilight Terrors” illustrates a young boy who is imagining he is being pursued by a dragon. The artist Rowena Morrill is known for her science-fiction and fantasy art. The young boy mannerism is depicted as calm somewhat cool with is hands in his pocket just strolling along. In contrast the incandescent dragon is colorful, bright in rage.


From science fiction to history, Alton Tobey made a successful career as a historical artist.

Sumerian Priests as it is title is a depiction of Sumerian life. The painting illustrates the priests entering into the temple to carry their harvest offerings to their chef god. Ziggurat as they are known were constructed to bring the ‘gods’ closer to mankind. Ancient Civilization believe that these temples connected the heavens and earth.

Half way across the world, Hung Liu a Chinese born artist paintings often make use of anonymous Chinese historical photographs, particularly those of women, as subject matter. This painting is title ‘Relic XII”. The red square could be read as ‘Nu nu’ which in Chinese translates to “female slave”. The butterfly symbolizes joy.

Julie Heffernan’s ‘Everything that Rises’ is staged in a grand ballroom like space, the artist appears to be telling a story about the life of the mind, imagination and myth. The flight of the birds and the fire could symbolize heaven and hell. The scene here appears to be haunting as well as enchanting.

This is an hologram of the artist Harriet Casdin-Silver who was a pioneer of the use of holograms as an art medium.

This exhibit provided a listening excerpt of the artist life in Silver’s own words.

What caught my eyes was that as you move past the exhibit, the hologram move with you.

A modern America art movement that was popular during the 1930's Regioanlism is the artisic focus of showing everyday scenes of life in the United States.

“The real subject of this work is, in the final analysis, a conglomerate of things experience in America” Thomas Benton.

The art of American Indian life. Here Benton acknowledges the significant role Native Americans played in the creative history of America.

The art of American life in the South.

The art of American life in the West.

One common theme that can be found in the four paintings by Benton, is the theme of music.

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." Berthold Auerbach

"History is not a static image or frozen story. Even if its images and stories are very old, it is always moving forward." In the piece below, artist Radcliffe Bailey assembles vintage photographs, objects he collects, and painted words and creates a multi-layered narrative which explores the history of the journey African Americans face during the trade between Africa and North America. The collage is self title "Transatlantic".

“A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed…It feels an impulsion…this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds”
When viewing a piece of art, we may not fully know or understand the reasoning behind the color arrangement, the imagery, of what we are observing. However art sparks an impulse in each of us that drives our own interpretation of what we think we are seeing. Although the true artist may know the reason why he or she commission that piece of work, the true beauty lies in those interpretations which we translated to experiences.