Museum Seeks Donations for Historical New Milford Painting

NEW MILFORD, CT — The New Milford Historical Society & Museum is seeking donations to acquire the portrait of a former resident.

The museum purchased the oil painting of Tamar Boardman Taylor through an online auction, and now needs $3,000 to help defray the costs.

"The museum’s limited budget certainly did not anticipate making this purchase, but the Board of Trustees felt this was an important enough piece of New Milford’s history to add to our collection, and took a big leap of faith to purchase it," a spokesman for the museum wrote on Facebook.

The museum has not yet determined whether the portrait is an original Ralph Earl painting or if it is a copy. If a copy, it was likely painted by artist Helen Morton Cox, a cousin of the Boardman family.

"Ms. Cox copied many portraits of the Taylor and Boardman family members in the exact style of Ralph Earl and even experts have had a difficult time determining if a painting is by Earl, or by Cox," the post read. "A further connection to the Society is that Helen Morton Cox used the historic bank building, now located on our property, as her artist studio to make these copies of portraits as late as 1945 when the building was on the Boardman property on Main Street."

The museum is planning "a festive event" during the spring when its new acquisition can be reunited with the Cox painting of Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, owned by the New Milford Congregational Church.