Will Howe Foote arrived in Old Lyme in 1901 and became one of the first members of the budding art colony centered at Florence Griswold’s home. Growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Foote was encouraged from a young age to pursue art as a career. His professional training began at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1894, and continued at the Art Students League in New York and the Academie Julian in Paris.

Foote’s early works in Connecticut reflect an interest in soft, atmospheric scenes with a tonal palette. The arrival of Childe Hassam (1859-1935)and Walter Griffin (1861-1935) to the Old Lyme Art Colony influenced Foote to lighten his palette and use colors of a higher key. Despite the influence of Old Lyme painters on his Impressionist and Tonalist styles, he did not paint the town’s landscape extensively (1). He and his wife traveled frequently and in the winters, seeking warmer climates, he painted in Bermuda, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Southwest.

1. William Chadwick, “The World of Art; Old Lyme Exhibition” in the Book Review and Magazine Section of The New York Times, 22 August 1920.