June 28-September 14

Cow Tales

  • Museum Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 4pm.

  • William Henry Howe (1846–1929), Repose, September Days in Normandy, 1888–89. Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 51 1/4 in. David W. and Mary S. Dangremond Acquisitions Fund

  • Brian Keith Stephens, Visit Your Neighbor I (left) and Visit Your Neighbor II (right), 2025. Oil and wax on cotton, 46 x 70 in.

  • Edward C. Volkert (1871–1935), Harrowing, ca. 1929. Oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in. Gift of George C. Lay

Inspired by the Museum’s extensive collection of animal paintings by Lyme Art Colony (1900-1937) artists, Cow Tales will explore the subject of cows as compelling subject matter through approximately 30 artworks ranging from the mid-19th century to the present. The exhibition builds on the Museum’s online learning resource Hauling & Harrowing: Edward Volkert and the Connecticut Farm. Like the virtual exhibition, which compiles and analyzes Volkert’s depictions of agriculture from the 1910s-1930s, works in Cow Tales reveals (and conceals!) the era’s complex transition from animal-powered to industrial farming. The exhibition will examine the historic and contemporary tensions evoked by cows through examples by artists such as George Henry Durrie, Aaron Draper Shattuck, William Henry Howe, Matilda Browne, Edward Volkert, Bernard Chaet, Tina Barney, Judy Friday, and Brian Keith Stephens.