FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2021
Lyman Allyn Art Museum
Press Contact: Rebecca Dawson, Director of Communications
860.443.2545 ext. 2112 / dawson@lymanallyn.org
MAJOR EXHIBITION ABOUT INFLUENTIAL TEACHER-PAINTER FRANK VINCENT DUMOND
AT LYMAN ALLYN ART MUSEUM
New London – The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of a major new exhibition on June 19 highlighting the art and teaching legacy of Frank Vincent DuMond (1865-1951). The first exhibition in twenty years to focus on DuMond, The Prismatic Palette: Frank Vincent DuMond and His Students explores the artist’s career in depth, with nearly 60 works of art drawn from private and public collections. The exhibition will be on view through Oct. 3.
A key figure in American art and art education, DuMond is known for his lush green landscapes and for the important role he played in the Lyme Art Colony in the early 20th century. He taught at the Art Students League of New York for 59 years, instructing multiple generations of artists, including such notable figures as John Marin, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Norman Rockwell. The exhibition, spread through three gallery rooms, will emphasize the work of some students as well as explore the enduring impact of Dumond’s “prismatic palette.”
Dumond was a skilled painter and draftsman with great technical facility and a keen eye for color. He began his study at the Art Students League in New York in 1884, and then studied in Paris at the Academie Julian from 1889 to 1891. While abroad, DuMond produced illustrations for Harpers Weekly, and his illustration work expanded after his return to the U.S. DuMond began teaching at the Art Students League of New York in 1892, and soon spent summers teaching and painting landscapes en plein air. DuMond and his wife Helen, also an artist, were early members of the Lyme Art Colony and purchased a home in Lyme, CT in 1906.
The Prismatic Palette highlights DuMond’s enduring contributions to art instruction and color theory. His impact as a teacher lies not just with the many artists he helped train, but also with his art pedagogy and painting techniques, which were passed on to subsequent generations by Frank Mason and other students and are still being taught today. DuMond’s “prismatic palette” offers an important and influential method of pre-mixing color strings that has been helpful for students, particularly for plein air painting.
The exhibition’s curator Dr. Tanya Pohrt notes, “We are thrilled to be exhibiting such exquisite works of art. The exhibition reveals DuMond’s diverse talents and explores his influential career as an art educator.” To accompany the exhibition, Pohrt will be giving an in-person Curator Talk on September 22 from 5:30 – 7 PM where she will discuss in detail a selection of works on view in The Prismatic Palette. Admission to the lecture is $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Interested participants should RSVP to 860.443.2545 ext. 2129.
The virtual opening reception will be on Friday, June 18 from 6 – 7 PM. Please visit the calendar of events tab on www.lymanallyn.org for event registration information.
For more information or to request images, please contact Rebecca Dawson by email at dawson@lymanallyn.org.
This exhibition is generously supported by the Frank Loomis Palmer Fund, Bank of America, Trustee; the Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts; an anonymous foundation;Thomas and Sherry Johnston, and Douglas and Marcia DuMond. Douglas is the great grandson of the artist. He and his wife Marcia live in Darien, Connecticut.
About the Lyman Allyn Art Museum
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum welcomes visitors from New London, southeastern Connecticut and all over the world. Established in 1926 by a gift from Harriet Allyn in memory of her seafaring father, the Museum opened the doors of its beautiful neo-classical building surrounded by 12 acres of green space in 1932. Today it presents a number of changing exhibitions each year and houses a fascinating collection of over 17,000 objects from ancient times to the present; artworks from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, with particularly strong collections of American paintings, decorative arts and Victorian toys and doll houses.
The museum is located at 625 Williams Street, New London, Connecticut, exit 83 off I-95. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, Sundays 1:00 – 5:00 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. The Lyman Allyn will be open for free all summer long, through September 5. For more information call 860.443.2545, ext. 2129 or visit www.lymanallyn.org.