A new exhibit at the Millyard Museum and new galleries at the Currier Museum of Art highlight current events on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail.
At the Millyard Museum in Manchester, Manchester Through the Lens of Frank Kelly features photographs and negatives of Frank Kelly, a prominent Manchester photographer in the mid-twentieth century. Over his long career, Kelly and his wife, Eleanor, photographed many Manchester people, events, businesses, and landmarks.
“This is an incredible exhibit that highlights his work, including unique shots of Manchester businesses and presidential visits to the Queen City,” said Jeff Barracough, executive director of the Millyard Museum. “Collectively, these images provide a snapshot of Manchester during a period of enormous change.”
Manchester Through the Lens of Frank Kelly will run through March 31, 2023. To learn more, visit manchesterhistoric.org.
Also located in Manchester on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail, The Currier Museum has completed the reinstallation of many of its galleries, including the entire second floor. Developing themes that cut across European, American, and Asian cultures, these new galleries combine historic and contemporary works along with new acquisitions.
One such acquisition is a painting by 17th-century Dutch artist Judith Leyster, a pioneering female artist of her time who painted genre works, portraits, and still lifes. The painting is currently on view in The Currier Museum’s European Gallery next to a painting by her husband, Jan Miense Molenaer (part of a permanent collection).
In addition to its 19th Century Collection, new galleries explore Nature and Nostalgia through American landscape paintings in the 19th and 20th centuries, periods defined by tremendous changes, including war, industrialization, and growth of cities. Some subject matter specifically pertains to New Hampshire.
“Our strong collection of views of the White Mountains is now enhanced by an early painting of the Cog Railway on Mount Washington and Philip Guston’s gigantic mural made for the National Forestry Building in Laconia,” explained Senior Curator Kurt Sundstrom. “These are reminders that New Hampshire’s landscape was nearly destroyed in the late 1800s and had to be carefully restored and protected.”
To learn more about The Currier Museum, and its new galleries, visit currier.org.
In addition to the Millyard Museum and The Currier Museum, member institutions on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail are located in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, Merrimack Valley, and Seacoast.