Tradition and Emotion: The paintings of Nelson H. White

This post comes to us from Gina Ciralli, Curatorial Intern.

Self-Portrait, 2011. Nelson H. White (b.1932) Oil on canvas, 12” x 16”. Collection of the artist.

Nelson Holbrook White, contemporary realist and Connecticut native, has built his career on painting majestic landscapes.  Inspired by a life of travel, White is best known for his beach and shore oil paintings.  His survey exhibition, Scenic Spirit, is on view in the Davis gallery.

Born in New London, Connecticut in 1932 to a family of successful American artists, Nelson first studied art with his father, Nelson Cooke White (1900-1989), and grandfather, Henry Cooke White (1861-1952).  Carefully coached on aesthetics, young Nelson learned the significance of half-tones, which characterize the work his grandfather’s mentor, Dwight W. Tryon (1849-1925).  He was additionally introduced to an array of classical realists including R. H. Ives Gammell (1893-1981) and Richard Lack (1928-2009) through his family connections.  In 1954, a visit to Florence, Italy prompted a friendship and mentorship that would forever impact White’s emerging style.

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Contemporary Views of Classical Landscapes

Places of the Heart #17, 2009. Prilla Smith Brackett (b. 1942). Oil and acrylic on board. Gift of the Artist, 2009.126.

The New Britain Museum of American Art is proud to announce two new acquisitions: Places of the Heart #17 by Prilla Smith Brackett and Summer View from Painter Hill Road by Tom Yost.

A New England native who grew up in West Hartford, Prilla Smith Brackett has created multiple series of conceptual landscape paintings, prints, and drawings over the last 18 years. Many of her paintings, such as Places of the Heart #17, juxtapose old-growth forests with domestic furniture. This contrast between man and nature is central to her themes of uncertainty, narrative, and memory, which she explains in the following statement:

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