Contemplating genius

“Vermeer: Woman Writing a Letter With Her Maid,’’ by Joe Fig, in his show “Contemplating Vermeer,’’ at the New Britain (Conn.) Museum of American Art through Jan. 11.

The museum explains:

“In 2023, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam hosted a monumental exhibition of Johannes Vermeer, showcasing 28 of the 35 masterpieces attributed to the enigmatic Dutch painter. Drawing on his own visit to this historic show, artist Joe Fig created a body of new paintings. In these works, featured in ‘Contemplating Vermeer,’ Fig not only pays homage to the 17th-Century painter’s mastery of light, color, and verisimilitude, but also reflects on the aesthetic experience in the Rijksmuseum’s galleries. Expanding on his decade-long ‘Contemplation’ series, he captures his subjects—artworks and their viewers—and their surroundings, exploring how people engage with or contemplate artworks in public spaces.’’

Into the blue

“Blue Leda Tondo” (encaustic on panel), by Martin Kline, in his show “The Art of Martin Kline,’’ at the New Britain (Conn.) Museum of American Art, Nov. 8-June 7.

'An Inward Sea'

From Jennifer Wen Ma’s show “An Inward Sea,’’ at The New Britain (Conn.) Museum of American Art, through Oct. 24.

The museum says:

“In recent years, Ma (born 1973 in Beijing) has explored themes of utopia, dystopia, and the human condition in immersive and participatory installations. ‘An Inward Sea’ continues this exploration, while reflecting deeply on the events of the last year--including the COVID-19 pandemic, extensive shut downs, and subsequent racial justice uprising in the U.S. --and how they have impacted the lives of residents of New Britain and beyond.”

Racism left out of history books

“Exodus of Confederates from Atlanta, ‘‘ from "Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)" (offset lithography and silkscreen on Somerset Textured paper), a show by Kara Walker, at the New Britain (Conn.) Museum of American Art, through April 19.

The museum says: “Kara Walker is New York-based artist whose work has appeared worldwide, tackling complex social issues such as race, gender, sexuality and violence. She's known for her use of silhouetted figures in her prints. In “Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated),’’ she combines her signature prints with enlarged woodcut plates from the book Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War to illustrate a different side of the Civil War: the perspective of African Americans of the era and the racism they experienced that were left out of history books.

Plotting, not idling

“Two Idlers” (detail), by Robert Frederick Blum (1857-1903), in the show “For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design,’’ in New York, at the New Britain (Conn.) Museum of American Art through Jan. 26.

(This image courtesy of the American Federation of Arts.)

The show features artist members of the National Academy of Design, such as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth, along with masterworks from genres of art such as the Hudson River School and American Impressionism.

The New Britain Knitting Co. factory shown in this set of directions for washing some of its products, about 1915. For many decades the city was a major manufacturing center.