New Britain Museum of American Art

Richard McCoy
Albertus Magnus College

New Britain Museum of American Art
Trip Date: 05/05/07
Focus: The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy
By Graydon Perrish

My trip to the New Britain Museum of American Art was a fun little adventure. I took the 45 minute ride from Milford with my sister, Stephanie, in anticipation of seeing Graydon Perrish's The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy: September 11, 2001. I unfortunately couldn't have picked a more wrong day to visit the NBMAA. As Marc mentioned in his visit to NBMAA, the museum was undergoing some movements so many pieces were either missing or out of their normal place. The day I went I found the reason for all the rearranging was the museum was in the final preparations for a silent auction. Much of the permanent work from the main lobbies and show rooms was down, and in replace were pieces from contributing artists that would be included the silent auction. All of the work that I saw that would be included in this auction was impressive. I was able to take pictures of some really nice work.

When we first arrived to the museum we were greeted by a very friendly staff member at the front desk who apologized for the look of the museum and gave my sister and me free passes for a future visit. She also let us in for the day at no charge, which was nice of her. I had asked about Graydon's work and she mentioned that it was on the second floor in the contemporary art area. The building was magnificent and I found that it was completely brand new. It had only been opened for about a year. There was an older building that was connected to the one we were in and I found that was the original NBMAA.

When poking around the entrance to the museum I found tables being set up for the auction dinner and also that certain areas of the museum were blocked off. Despite the little setbacks it didn’t hold me back from taking photos.

Title: Cathedral (1949-1950)
Artist: Theodoros Stamos

Title: The Declaration
Artisit: John Atwater
Auction Piece

Title: Puss in Boots (2006)
Artist: Walter Wick
Auction Piece

When reaching the stair case, I was beginning to become excited because I knew I would be arriving at the 9-11 piece shortly. As I approached the top of the stairs I walked into a small room with more work for the silent auction and noticed that one section of the modern art area had been blocked off by a gate with a small walking entrance into the exhibit area. I was crossing my fingers that this wasn’t where Graydon’s work was being displayed because I didn’t want it to be one of the areas that was blocked off. Luckily, I noticed a few other visitors were on that side so I had walked to the gate in hopes to walk through and mingle in with the crowd. As I approached the gate I noticed a museum attendant was walking the small group out and had then closed off the area entirely. I approached the gentleman and had asked if Graydon’s piece was on the other side. He said it was, and that is when I politely asked if he could sneak me on the other side to catch a glimpse of the marvel. He was a very friendly and kind person and allowed for Stephanie and me to take a quick peak at the painting. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get close to the painting because there was a table set up in front of it for the dinner / auction but I managed to squeeze in two shots before we had to leave.

To sum it up, this painting is unbelievable. I have been reading up on Graydon’s work all week long and even have a picture of this painting embedded in my head, but for those few short seconds that I was there in front of it, I could not believe what I saw. This painting represents a terrible, unforeseen tragedy, a tragedy to the world that no one can ever fix. 9-11 brought sorrow and painstaking heartache to everyone living in America that many still cope with to this day; but I have to admit and can not believe how this painting brought on a sense of relief. A feeling of relief that one person in this world can create without words to change the lives of many.

The attendant that let us through was extremely nice. He told me a little bit more about the auction which was interesting. All pieces were donated from artists and that 80% of the proceeds of each piece went towards the museum with the remainder going to the artists. He was a very helpful person and very kind hearted. I thanked him for letting us through and then went around one of the open areas in the contemporary section to see other work.

Title: Wildflowers
Artist: Tony Klotz
Auction piece

Title: Bumps
Artist Melanie Carr Eveleth
Auction Piece
I found out when speaking with the attendant in contemporary art that Melanie works at the museum as another attendant. Go Melanie!

The trip wasn’t as fruitful as I would have liked it to be but was still an enjoyable outing. The museum was stunning despite being turned upside down due to the auction's preparation. New Britain has a true gem with this museum. Now that I have free passes I want to go again in the coming weeks and view it when things aren’t so busy there. I traveled back downstairs and visited the gift shop. Bought a few postcards of the Cycle of Terror and then traveled home.

Richard McCoy