Lyme Academy Hosts Guest Lecturer from Yale to Discuss American Art Students at French Academies, 1876–1900; All Welcome, April 12

Speaker to be Mark Mitchell, Curator of American Paintings & Sculpture at Yale University Art Gallery, Reception to follow

OLD LYME – On Saturday, April 12, at 4 p.m., the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts presents, “In the Studios of Paris: American Art Students at the French Academies, 1876–1900,” a guest lecture by Mark D. Mitchell, Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at Yale University Art Gallery.

A wine and beer reception will follow in the Academy’s on-campus art gallery, with an opportunity to view the Academy’s newest exhibition, True to Form: Academic Figure Studies from the Late 19th to Early 20th Centuries.

Tickets are $30 and available online at www.lymeacademy.edu.

During the late 19th century, nearly every young American artist’s professional ambitions led straight to Paris. In the wake of the Franco-Prussian War and America’s Centennial, Paris emerged as the primary artistic training ground of Europe and a generation of American students came of age there.

Focused on the careers of leading artists of the era, including Kenyon Cox, Frederick MacMonnies, John Singer Sargent, and Julian Alden Weir, this talk will explore what budding American artists found when they arrived in Paris, what being an American art student abroad meant at the time, and how the experience shaped their ideas of art.

“The subject of artists’ training is one that has particular relevance for Lyme Academy,” comments Co-Artistic Director Jordan Sokol, “and we are delighted to have Yale curator Mark Mitchell share his unique perspective and knowledge.”

The mission of the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is to teach the foundational skills of drawing, painting, and sculpture in the figurative tradition. By its commitment to training students in these skills and an engagement with contemporary discourse, the Academy will empower a new generation of artists. Through its programs, the Academy is committed to enriching the cultural life of the community. 

Editor’s Note: The mission of the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is to teach the foundational skills of drawing, painting, and  sculpture in the figurative tradition. By its commitment to training students in these skills and an engagement  with contemporary discourse, the Academy will empower a new generation of artists. Through its programs,  the Academy is committed to enriching the cultural life of the community.