Cow Tales: Works from the Permanent Collection
Edited by Amy Kurtz Lansing and Jennifer Stettler Parsons, PhD

$16.95
Paperback: 63 pages
Publisher: Florence Griswold Museum
ISBN: 978-1-880897-36-2

This book was prepared on the occasion of the exhibition Cow Tales, on view at the Florence Griswold Museum from June 28–September 14, 2025.

Inspired by the Museum’s extensive collection of animal paintings by Lyme Art Colony (1900–1937) artists, Cow Tales explored the subject of cows as compelling subject matter through over 30 artworks and artifacts ranging from the mid-19th century to the present. Works in the exhibition revealed (and concealed!) the era’s complex transition from animal-powered to industrial farming. The exhibition examined 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.

This volume builds on the exhibition with bovine-inspired works from the painted panels in the historic Florence Griswold Boardinghouse, as well as historic photographs from the Lyme Historical Society Archives.