Today in 1937, Florence Griswold died, having made her lifelong hometown of Old Lyme synonymous with art. Miss Griswold was born into one of Old Lyme’s most prominent families, the youngest daughter of wealthy ship captain Robert Griswold. Not long after Florence was born, however, the family’s fortunes began to change, The start of the Civil War (with its many naval blockades), combined with the decline of sailing ships in favor of steam-powered vessels forced Captain Griswold into an early retirement. By the 1870s, Florence’s father had died, leaving the family in dire financial straits. To maintain their large mansion in Old Lyme, the family turned it into a boarding school for girls. Nearly two decades later, when Florence was in her 40s and the only remaining family member left at the house, she decided to close the school and make her home a boarding house for adults, marketing it as an idyllic and fashionable summertime escape for city-dwellers.
In 1899, American landscape painter Henry Ward Ranger, recently back in the United States after a lengthy trip to Europe, stayed at Florence Griswold’s house, The combination of warm hospitality and stately home. surrounded by sprawling gardens along the shores of Old Lyme’s Lieutenant River, led Ranger to decide that Griswold’s home was the perfect setting for an artists’ retreat. The next year, he returned with a number of his friends – all fellow artists – in hope of recreating the art-inspiring ambience of the artistic communities he had encountered in Europe. Thus was established what came to be known as the Lyme Art Colony. Over the next decade, “Miss Florence’s” home became one of the nuclei of American Impressionist art painting, with famous artists like Childe Hassam, William Henry Howe, William Chadwick, and Matilda Browne producing some of their most iconic works there. Many of their paintings feature Connecticut flora, fauna, and landscapes.
“Miss Florence” was quite proud of her contribution to Old Lyme’s national reputation as an artist-friendly town; shortly before her death in 1937, she declared, “First the artists adopted Lyme, and then Lyme adopted the artists, and now, today, Lyme and art are synonymous.”
In the late 20th century, the Griswold family home underwent an extensive renovation, and is now open to the public as the Florence Griswold Museum, a combination historic house museum and fine art gallery in the heart of Old Lyme. We remember with appreciation one of the state’s greatest patrons of American art, today in Connecticut history.
Further Reading
“Florence Griswold,” Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame
“An American Place: The Art Colony at Old Lyme,” Florence Griswold Museum
“Our History: Miss Florence,” Florence Griswold Museum
