Betsey Cooley and Melanie Brigockas
events + gatherings
In honor of the exhibition, the Holtzman Family made a gift of Open Relief (1983) to the Museum. It was unveiled by Curators Amy Kurtz Lansing and Ben Colman at the opening.
Florence Griswold Museum celebrates the opening of Harry Holtzman and American Abstraction Over 300 Museum members paid tribute to Holtzman’s role in shaping abstract art in America from the 1920s to the 1980s.
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he Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut celebrated the opening of Harry Holtzman and American Abstraction, the first retrospective of abstract painter, teacher, and writer Harry Holtzman (1912–1987). The Holtzman family, Maddy, Jackie, Jason Holtzman, and Betsy McManus; family friends; and over 300 Museum members paid tribute to Holtzman’s role in shaping abstract art in America from the 1920s to the 1980s. The exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and drawings features many works not exhibited since Holtzman’s From the left; Museum Director Jeff Andersen, death and highlights the different Amy Kurtz-Lansing, Museum President Ted Hamilton, Maddie Holtzman, Jason Holtzman, facets of his role as perennial stalwart Jackie Holtzman, Betsy McManus, Ben Colman of the New York avant garde. A close friend and colleague of Piet Mondrian, Holtzman is best known for helping to bring the originator of Neoplasticism to America. Organized by the Museum’s curators Amy Kurtz Lansing and Benjamin Colman, this exhibition is the third presented by the Florence Griswold Museum that brings a better understanding of modern artists that lived in the greater Lyme area, an often-overlooked chapter in Connecticut’s rich artistic history. Holtzman was part of a local community that has been little studied but included significant artists. In 1962 Holtzman chose a monumental barn along the country roads of Lyme, Connecticut, to personally convert into a home and studio workspace. He lived and worked there until his death in 1987. is on view through January 26, 2014. Exhibition Sponsor: Bank of America Media Sponsor: Venü Magazine
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CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE
Jeb Embree and Museum Past President Bob Webster