New London
Connecticut
Lyman Allyn Art Museum
Mission:
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum, a cultural, educational and community resource, brings enjoyment and understanding of art to the people of New London and Southeastern Connecticut. We preserve a collection of American and European fine and decorative art while creating exhibitions and programs in and around our historic building and our gardens and grounds.
History:
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum, located in New London, Connecticut, was founded in 1926 at the bequest of Harriet Upson Allyn (1840 -1926). She was a life-long New London resident and the youngest of Captain Lyman Allyn’s (1797- 1874) six children. She named the museum in memory of her father, a man who commanded a whaling boat by the age of twenty-one and who later became a director of a banking company, an insurance company and a railroad company. Furthermore, Lyman Allyn founded a school for boys in New London in 1817.
In 1910 Harriet Allyn had requested, in her will, that the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit Company of Hartford use money from her estate to create a park and a museum. In addition, Allyn donated a significant tract of land to neighboring Connecticut College, then a women’s school.
Allyn’s death in 1926 established the beginning of the museum. Initially there was no collection and no building. Architect Charles A. Platt was hired “to design an elegant neo-classical granite structure on a hill overlooking New London and the Thames River” using a design similar to the one Platt created for the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. The museum opened in 1932, displaying a collection built by the first Director, Winslow Ames, which famously consisted of only thirteen works!
After several additions and renovations, the Museum contains nine galleries, an auditorium, a library, conservation laboratory, offices, bookshop and café. Today, the permanent collection consists of over 10,000 paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, furniture and decorative arts, with an emphasis on American art from the 18th through 20th centuries.
Upcoming Events at Lyman Allyn Art Museum
Exhibition - Louise McCagg: The Artist’s Eye
Exhibition: Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press
Exhibition - Louise McCagg: The Artist’s Eye
Exhibition: Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press
Exhibition - Louise McCagg: The Artist’s Eye
Exhibition: Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press
Exhibition - Louise McCagg: The Artist’s Eye
Exhibition: Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press
Exhibition - Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist
Exhibition - Louise McCagg: The Artist’s Eye
Exhibition: Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press
Exhibition - Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist
Exhibition - Louise McCagg: The Artist’s Eye
Exhibition: Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press
Exhibition - Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist
Recent News
Exhibition - Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist
Wes and Rachelle Siegrist are an American husband and wife team who mesmerize viewers with miniature paintings so exquisitely crafted that they are often mistaken for tiny photographs. Their tiny treasures, as collectors often refer to them,…
Read More »Landscaping is Underway at Lyman Allyn Art Museum
Please Pardon Our Appearance New London - The Lyman Allyn is thrilled to announce that work on the highly anticipated development of Lyman Allyn Park has begun. This major project will transform the Museum’s outdoor space into a twelve-acre…
Read More »Lyman Allyn Art Museum Presents Modern and Contemporary Art from the Collection of Louise McCagg
Presenting modern and contemporary art from the collection of artist Louise McCagg (American, 1936–2020), this exhibition celebrates friendship and collaboration. The Artist’s Eye showcases McCagg’s own art in conversation with the…
Read More »Lyman Allyn Art Museum Receives State Grant For New Urban Art Park
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum today announced that it has been awarded a substantial grant from Connecticut's Community Investment Fund (CIF) to bring to life an exciting new project—a vibrant urban art park that promises to become a cultural gem…
Read More »New Lyman Allyn Exhibition Celebrates The Work of Local Artist Jac Lahav
New London, CT - In Lyman Allyn Art Museum’s newest exhibition, artist Jac Lahav works with immersive vining sculptures and abstract painting that intertwine the themes of fostering and the nurturing power of plants. Through vibrant blue…
Read More »Visit The Lyman Allyn Art Museum For Free Through September 3, 2023
VISIT THE LYMAN ALLYN ART MUSEUM FOR FREE THROUGH SEPT. 3 NEW LONDON – The Lyman Allyn Art Museum has a great, no-cost way to entertain friends and family during these final weeks of summer. The Museum is offering free admission to all…
Read More »Lyman Allyn Launches New Digital Guide
LYMAN ALLYN LAUNCHES NEW DIGITAL GUIDE TO ENRICH BOTH ONSITE AND OFFSITE VISITS The free guide joins more than 200 cultural institutions around the globe on the Bloomberg Connects app. NEW LONDON – Today, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum…
Read More »Lyman Allyn Art Museum Receives State Grant to Revitalize Grounds for Urban Park
LYMAN ALLYN ART MUSEUM RECEIVES STATE GRANT TO REVITALIZE GROUNDS FOR URBAN PARK NEW LONDON – The Lyman Allyn Art Museum was recently awarded a state grant of nearly $500,000 as part of the $7 million in funds released under the…
Read More »Lyman Allyn Art Museum - Lyman Allyn Exhibition Celebrates the Life and Work of Barkley L.Hendricks
New London - The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is pleased to present a special exhibition that explores the work of one of New London’s best-known artists, Barkley L. Hendricks (1945—2017). The exhibition, Barkley L. Henricks in New London,…
Read More »Lyman Allyn Art Museum -Adds New Items to Tiffany Exhibition
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum has added a number of artworks to its permanent exhibition, Louis Comfort Tiffany in New London, which has been attracting enthusiastic visitors since October 2018. The new objects include a large Laburnum Library Lamp by…
Read More »Lyman Allyn Art Museum Acquires Rare Mid-19th Century Portrait
LYMAN ALLYN ART MUSEUM ACQUIRES RARE MID-19TH CENTURY PORTRAIT – The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is proud to announce the purchase of a portrait of a mixed-race youth, ca. 1830s-‘40s, a rare painting that speaks to the diverse community…
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