HARTFORD, CT — June 8, 2026 — Six paintings by the late Connecticut artist Max Coyer (1954–1988) were unveiled this month in the Office of Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz at the State Capitol in Hartford. The works, on loan for one year, mark a significant moment of recognition for a Windsor-born painter whose work is held in museums, galleries, and corporate collections across the country.
The unveiling was attended by a distinguished gathering of legislators, museum professionals, and community advocates, including State Representative Jane Garibay, State Senator Cathy Osten, and Deputy Majority Leader Dominique Johnson. Representatives from two of Connecticut’s premier cultural institutions were also present: the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, represented by Director Matthew Hargraves, Chief Curator Dr. Vanessa Sigalas, Assistant Curator for Contemporary Art Rachel Stratton, and Major Gifts Officer Lara Langer; and the New Britain Museum of American Art, represented by Director of Collections and Exhibitions Stephanie Mayer Heydt. Andrew Belonsky Editor of The Hartford Arts Pages newspaper and Danielle Girard of PFlag Enfield were also in attendance.
Remarks were offered by several attendees, including Paula Pierce, Max Coyer’s niece, who spoke about her uncle’s life, philosophy, and legacy. “Connecticut shaped him,” she told those gathered. “It seems fitting — and long overdue — that Connecticut now celebrates him as one of her own.”
The paintings installed were Circle of Fire, Hour of Amaryllis, Moon Maid, Ingres Icon, Maiden Icon, and Dauphine Icon.
Max Coyer was born in Windsor, Connecticut, attended Trinity College in Hartford, and relocated to New York, where he developed a distinctive philosophy he called synthetic art — a declaration that the divide between academic tradition and modernist innovation was a false boundary to be dissolved. His work draws from influences as wide-ranging as African masks, Japanese prints, and the Old Masters, rendered in a voice that was unmistakably his own. Playwright Edward Albee, writing shortly after Coyer’s death, described his paintings as a catalogue of enthusiasms and homages — a life spent in rigorous, generous conversation with the whole of art history.
Coyer died in 1988 at the age of thirty-four. The six paintings now on display in the Lieutenant Governor’s office represent both a homecoming and a long-overdue introduction to a new generation of Connecticut residents.
An exhibition of Coyer’s work will take place at the Windsor Art Center on Mechanic Street in Windsor this fall, starting with an opening reception on Saturday, September 19 from 5 pm to 7pm.
For more information about Max Coyer and his work, contact Paula Pierce at paula@maxcoyer.com
