Something "New" in Miss Florence's Bedroom

For many of us docents who spend time in Miss Florence's house, there has been something missing lately. It is the lovely statuette of "Jessie Wilson" by Bessie Potter Vonnoh which is normally on the fireplace mantel in Miss Florence's bedroom. This bronze and another by Vonnoh entitled "Standing Nude" (usually in the artist's bedroom) are currently part of the exhibition "Bessie Potter Vonnoh: Sculptor of Women," organized by the Cincinnati Art Museum.

This show was on view at the Florence Griswold Museum last fall and is now at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Alabama. It will travel on to the Cincinnati Art Museum this summer.

Vonnoh was a popular member of the Lyme Art Colony and a good friend of Florence Griswold's. It is believed that the two bronzes were gifts from Vonnoh to Miss Florence.

The sculpture of "Jessie Wilson" (the daughter of President Woodrow Wilson) is a favorite of mine and I have missed seeing it. But several weeks ago, I walked into Miss Florence's bedroom and--what to my wondering eyes should appear?--there was another work by Bessie Potter Vonnoh.

This "new" bronze is from a private collection and is another cast of Vonnoh's "Standing Nude." It was discovered several years ago in upstate New York. The owners are loaning it to the Florence Griswold while the museum's two Vonnoh sculptures are on the road. And the privately owned "Standing Nude" will remain on the fireplace mantel until next fall when "Jessie Wilson" returns home.

I Enjoy Being a Docent

I don't know who the docent was when I first visited the Florence Griswold Museum (probably in the late 1980s or early 1990s.) But whoever it was did a super job talking about Miss Florence and the Lyme Art Colony. I remember thinking, "Wow, what a great story!"

My interest in that story deepened after moving to Old Lyme about ten years ago. In fact, I soon discovered that some of the artists lived on the lane I now call home. Lewis Cohen (and later Frank Bicknell) lived in the house next door. Gregory Smith had a house across the street. Will Howe Foote and Harry Hoffman also lived in the neighborhood.

I began attending events at the museum to learn more about the art colony that flourished here in the early years of the 20th century. After a lecture one afternoon, I started chatting with a woman who was a longtime volunteer at the museum. "I think you might enjoy our docent program," she told me.

She was right. I'm a proud alumna of the Docent Class of 2002 and I've found that telling visitors about Miss Florence's boarding house is a personally rewarding experience.

And I've also found that once you become a docent, you never stop learning. A good example of this is the recent exhibition Bessie Potter Vonnoh: Sculptor of Women. I have always loved Vonnoh's statuette of a young woman that is in Miss Florence's bedroom.

From my docent training, I knew that Vonnoh was a noted sculptor and that the model for the small bronze was Woodrow Wilson's daughter, Jessie. Mrs. Ellen Wilson came to Old Lyme to study art, and the future First Family spent several summers with Miss Florence.

But to see a whole show of Vonnoh's works was to understand why she was so famed in her lifetime. And I also learned that after Mrs. Wilson became First Lady, she invited Vonnoh to exhibit some of her sculpture in the Red Room of the White House.

It was also wonderful to learn Vonnoh's personal story--that she was a very popular member of the Lyme Art Colony, that she called the summer home she bought in Lyme "a funny old place," even that she loved to dance!

We all have our favorite stories about being docents. I remember starting a group tour one wintry day. I had just finished saying "Welcome to Miss Florence's house," when a little girl raised her hand. She solemnly asked, "You mean she lived in a museum?" A perfect question and a great way for me to segue into the story of the house.