Celebrating Art, History, and Nature

Connecticut artist Anna Held Audette (1938–2013) discerned loveliness in decline, creating monumental oil paintings of the disused factories, machines, and scrapyards that are America’s ruins. Her works, positioned somewhere between landscape, still life, and abstraction, reference the arc of America’s ascendance and decline as a manufacturing titan. Appreciative of art and architecture from across the ages, Audette perceived transcendent humanity and ingenuity vested in the crafted objects and spaces that caught her eye, defying expectations for women artists by embracing the inhospitable places recorded in her work.

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Museum campus truly lights up for the holidays!

Over 250 unique painted artist palettes displayed on trees in the Krieble Gallery, decorations throughout the historic Griswold House for a 1910 holiday, Miss Florence's Teas, specialty gift shopping, and much more.

Holiday Magic is generously supported by an anonymous donor, Infiltrator Water Technologies, Pasta Vita, Bouvier Insurance, Timeless Living Designs, Essence Center for Beauty and Wellness, Jean Callan King Interior Design, LLC, and the Museum’s Board of Trustees.

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The Florence Griswold Museum flourishes with the support of our community.

Your tax-deductible gift to our Annual Fund goes toward the cost of essential needs: Museum Collection and Exhibitions, Educational Programs for all Ages, Serving the Community, and Museum Facilities & Grounds.

Thank you for taking the Museum to new heights of innovation and community service!

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This holiday favorite sold out so quickly last year that we have added dates and additional seatings for 2023.

November 28—December 30, Tuesdays—Saturdays, tea will be served twice each day. Choose a seating at 11am or at 2pm and enjoy your tea for up to two hours. No teas on Sundays or Mondays.

Reservations are now open!

Reservations...

Explore our full roster of fall programming. Family-friendly holiday events, plus lectures and educational programming for the exhibition Abandon in Place: The Worlds of Anna Audette. Flower arranging, fall crafts, Art Bars, and much more.

Sign up now and enjoy the fun, festive season at the Museum!

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Thinking of planning a field trip or group tour of the Museum? We have multiple different options for delightful trips, no matter the size or age of your group!

Get in touch with our Education team to plan a memorable visit today.

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The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme is collaborating with the New Orleans-based artist jackie sumell to install one of her “Solitary Garden” beds on our grounds, in conjunction with the exhibition Social & Solitary: Reflections on Art, Isolation, and Renewal. The Solitary Garden project comes to life through correspondence between a volunteer and a currently incarcerated “gardener.” Their letters articulate to the Museum what kinds of flowers or plants are grown in the garden bed. Each Solitary Garden is a gesture of hope connecting an isolated person to the outside world through the restorative act of nurturing plants.

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Pop artist Leo Jensen (1926–2019) turned a winking eye on America, producing an irreverent art that is nevertheless serious in its cultural observations. Known best regionally for his bronze frog sculptures on the Thread City Crossing bridge in Willimantic, Jensen infused his work with humor as well as thought-provoking reflections on modern American society.

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The paintings and sculptures in this exhibition are by artists who lived and worked in Connecticut from the late Colonial period to the early 20th century.

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During the first summers of the Lyme art colony the artists began to paint scenes on the door panels of the boardinghouse.

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One of the most celebrated works of art at the Florence Griswold Museum is the frieze-like painting titled The Fox Chase (1905) created by Henry Rankin Poore.

See the Collection

Begin your visit at the Krieble Gallery.

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The Late Georgian mansion was transformed from a wealthy sea captain’s home into a boardinghouse for some of the most noted names in American Impressionism.

Visit the House

The Museum’s grounds invite exploration.

Visit the Grounds