The Cooley Gallery will exhibit a special collection of paintings by Hartford artist Henry Cooke White (1861-1952) at The Connecticut Spring Antiques Show. The event, considered the nation's leading pre-1840's antiques show, will be held March 12 and 13, 2011 at the Connecticut Expo Center. Included in the Cooley exhibit will be three significant oils and a collection of fabulous pastels.

Henry Cooke White was an accomplished painter and writer who also worked in pastel for four decades.  He was born into a prosperous family in Hartford in 1861. At the age of fourteen, he met the famous American Tonalist painter Dwight Tryon who would become an influential part of White's professional and personal life.  After lessons in his studio Tryon encouraged him to continue his artistic study in New York. White took classes at the Art Students League with Kenyon Cox, William Merritt Chase and another influential pastelist, John Henry Twachtman. 

White was an avid sailor and fisherman, and as an artist found the sky and varied topography ideal for his art. The summer house he built along the shore in Waterford would become a year-round residence and home to four flourishing generations of artists and writers.  

The Connecticut Spring Antiques Show will be held on Saturday, March 12 from 10am – 5pm and on Sunday, March 13 from 11am – 4pm at the Connecticut Expo Center, 265 Reverend A. Moody Overpass (I-91, Exit 33) in Hartford.