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.
Matilda Browne
Painting/Drawing
1869 – 1947
The only woman at the Old Lyme Colony who was taken seriously as a painter by her male colleagues, Browne was considered an important member of the Old Lyme group. In fact, Browne was asked to paint a door panel in the dining room at Miss Griswold’s, a prestigious invitation and one that clearly shows she was a part of that coterie of artists. Her work stands comparison with some of the best Impressionists of the age.
- Biography/Description of Work
Browne was born in Newark, New Jersey, into a family with two sisters and a brother. She had the good fortune to grow up next door to famed landscape painter, Thomas Moran (18371926). Moran allowed her to experiment with his brushes and colors. She exhibited one of her early efforts, a floral study, at the National Academy of Design when she was only twelve years old. After Moran, Browne studied under a series of accomplished tutors in the United States, France, and the Netherlands during the 1880s. Records show that the artist was in Greenwich, presumably working at Cos Cob, in the late 1890s. She worked in Old Lyme in 1905-06 and periodically from 1911 to 1924, living in the house at 54 Lyme Street. As her career accelerated, she exhibited and won awards nationally and in Connecticut. Sometime around 1918 she married Frederick Van Wyck, a New York merchant and author on local history, and in 1932 her illustrations were published in her husband’s book, ‘Recollections of an Old New Yorker.’ After her husband’s death in 1936, she lived in Greenwich with her sisters.
- Sources view
- Uconn database, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_Browne,
Matilda Browne Article - The Hartford Courant - 1919-8-3,
Matilda Browne Article - The Hartford Courant - 1920-4-25,
VanWyck, Matilda Browne, Obituary. New York Times - 1947-11-4,
VanWyck, Frederick {Matilda Browne's Husband) Obituar.y New York Times - 1936-2-17,
Matilda Browne's Husband Van Wyck Article - New York Times - 1933-10-8
The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme CT. http://cooleygallery.com/b_inv/browne.htm - Associated Resource(s)