With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Milton Rockwell Bellin
Painting/Drawing
1913 – 1997
WPA artist whose murals featured male nudes, at a time when they were not considered appropriate for public buildings. Bellin painted murals for the administration building (now located in the Student Center) at the Teacher’s College of Connecticut (Central Connecticut State University).
- Biography/Description of Work
New Haven native Milton Rockwell Bellin earned a degree at the Yale School of Fine Arts in 1936. He assisted James Daugherty with WPA sponsored murals for the Stamford Housing Project, and was WPA artist in residence at the Teacher’s College of Connecticut from 1937 and 1940. In addition to murals, he completed 62 easel paintings, largely watercolors, which found homes at the Nathan Hale School in New Britain, the Mystic Oral School, Central Connecticut State University, Norwich and Fairfield State Hospitals, and the Board of Education in Milford. Many depicted snipets of every day life such as ‘Esso Tanks and Trucks.’
- Sources view
- Uconn database, http://www.askart.com/askart/b/milton_rockwell_bellin/milton_rockwell_bellin.aspx, http://articles.courant.com/2000-03-23/entertainment/0003230579_1_public-art-art-projects-murals, http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2012/01/24/entertainment/doc4f19cb39c2e99326817742.txt, Milton Bellin - WPA Article - The Muse - Slater_Newsletter_fall_2012, Milton Bellin Obituary - New York Times - 1997-11-5, CT State Library WPA Art Inventory. http://wpa.cslib.org/index.php/474/bellin-milton-r/ WPA Artist’s Work Card; WPA Biography; AskART; E-Mail of Mamed to Mark Jones with attachments, 7/30/08; Obituary, New York Times, November 5, 1997; Standalone Picture, Hartford Courant, April 17, 1938; Neal Broverman, “At CCSU, Milton Bellin’s Depression Era Art,” Hartford Courant, 3/23/2000. Mattatuck Museum. Art for Everyone: the Federal Art Project in Connecticut. http://www.mattatuckmuseum.org/ArtForEveryone
- Associated Resource(s)
- n/a