Hartford Steam Boiler Donates American Art Collection to Florence Griswold Museum; Museum Expansion Will Give Public More Access to the Paintings

    HARTFORD, Conn.--May 24, 2001--The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company announced today that it will donate its extensive collection of American art to the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, giving state residents and visitors greater access to these important paintings.
    The collection, which focuses on artists who worked in Connecticut from the late eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries, will be displayed in a new waterfront art gallery being built on the museum grounds. The museum intends to raise additional funds to house and care for this collection as part of its current capital campaign.
    "These works show the pastoral beauty of our state and scenes of everyday life over a span of 150 years," said Richard H. Booth, president and chief executive officer of Hartford Steam Boiler. "The collection embodies the values that made Connecticut a leader in building our nation -- hard work, craftsmanship and excellence. This gift to the Florence Griswold Museum assures that the public will have full access to these works of art."
    The collection of 188 paintings and other items includes works by prominent American Impressionists such as Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, John Henry Twachtman, J. Alden Weir as well as Connecticut natives Frederic Edwin Church and Charles Ethan Porter, among other artists. Works from the collection are currently on loan to the Florence Griswold Museum and other institutions. The remainder of the collection will be moved to the museum in the spring of 2002.
    The Florence Griswold Museum was selected, Booth said, because of its unique combination of art and history. With its renowned collection of Impressionist art and landmark site at one of America's most famous art colonies, the museum has the ability to maintain and promote the collection as an important cultural resource, he added.
    "We are deeply honored at having been trusted with the ownership and care of this extraordinary collection," said Jeffrey Andersen, director of the Florence Griswold Museum. "What Hartford Steam Boiler has done is nothing less than give back to the people of Connecticut their artistic heritage. Now it is our job to share that heritage with the wider world. I can't think of a more enlightened or visionary act of corporate philanthropy."
    Located in a Late Georgian-style mansion built in 1817, the Florence Griswold Museum houses a permanent collection of more than 900 paintings, drawings and watercolors by nearly 130 American artists. Many of these artists were nationally known members of the turn-of-the-century Impressionist art colony at Old Lyme.
    To house the Hartford Steam Boiler Fine Arts Collection, the Florence Griswold Museum will add a third exhibition gallery and larger collection and storage areas in a new 9,200-square-foot facility overlooking the Lieutenant River. Once the collection is moved from the company's headquarters to the museum, works from the collection will be displayed and made available for educational programs, research, and loaned to other institutions.
    Hartford Steam Boiler began assembling the collection more than 20 years ago under the leadership of former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Wilson Wilde, who saw the value of supporting the arts as part of Hartford Steam Boiler's community affairs program. The collection has been viewed by many over the years in small, guided groups. Given Connecticut's unsurpassed support for the arts, Hartford Steam Boiler decided it was important to give the public wider access to the collection.
    "It was our goal to preserve and share this precious artistic heritage," said Wilde. "The Florence Griswold Museum has been of great assistance as we assembled the collection. Many of these works were actually painted at the art colony that flourished on the site of today's museum. The merging of these two collections will heighten the museum's reputation as a center for American art."
    The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, one of the world's leading equipment breakdown insurers, is a global provider of specialty insurance products, inspection services and engineering consulting. Hartford Steam Boiler was founded in 1866 to provide loss prevention service and insurance to business, industries and institutions. For more information about Hartford Steam Boiler's collection visit its website at http://www.hsb.com/art/ARTfine.htm. For more information about the Florence Griswold Museum, visit its website at www.flogris.org.

    Editors Note

    Electronic images of works from The Hartford Steam Boiler Fines Arts Collection can be downloaded at www.hsb.com/PressCenter/gallery.htm.