In Situ: The Painted Panels

William Chadwick (1879–1962)

Country Road in Summer

William Chadwick first came to Old Lyme in 1902 through the influence of fellow pupils at the Art Students League. In those early years, Chadwick developed his skills as a portrait and figure painter but also gained an appreciation for landscape while observing Willard Metcalf and Walter Griffin at work during stays in Old Lyme’s artist colony. He would eventually devote himself to plein-air landscapes, a large collection of which were donated to the Museum by Chadwick’s family along with his painting studio, relocated to the grounds.

Chadwick and his wife Pauline embarked in 1912 on a long trip to Europe. Returning to Old Lyme, he bought a home in 1915 on Johnny Cake Hill Road, where he lived for the rest of his life. While the artist traveled extensively, Country Road in Summer may depict a landscape not far from his residence and signals his enduring affection for the Connecticut landscape.

Country Road in Summer is the only double-sided panel in the dining room. Artist Robert Fullonton painted the California scene, Rocky Seacoast, on one side of the panel around 1918, the year he stayed at the Griswold house and exhibited with the Lyme Art Association. When Fullonton left Old Lyme without paying his debt to Florence Griswold, her artist friends responded. Chadwick flipped Fullonton’s panel over and executed Country Road in Summer on the back, hiding the other painting from view. Twice in the past 15 years, the Museum has turned Country Road in Summer around and temporarily displayed Fullonton’s composition.

William Chadwick
Country Road in Summer
Oil on wood panel, 22 x 11 ½ in.
Gift of the Artist