Damien Cregeau will present ‘John Trumbull: Painter of the American Revolution’ at the New Britain Museum of American Art on Sunday, September 20, 2026, from 2 to 3 p.m. The lecture, delivered as a visually rich slideshow, will examine Trumbull’s early adulthood and young career.
Rather than limiting its account to the painter’s Revolutionary-era reputation, the presentation will trace personal circumstances named in the programme: childhood medical challenges, the influence of Trumbull’s artistically talented sister Faith Trumbull Huntington, and his effort to prove to his father, Governor Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., that he could succeed as an artist.
Cregeau will also address the competing roles described in the announcement. During the American Revolution, Trumbull vacillated between being an untrained aspiring artist and a patriot colonel. The talk follows him to London in 1780, where he began training under Benjamin West.
Faith Trumbull Huntington’s life will figure in the lecture through both her influence on her brother and her experience of depression during her marriage to Colonel Jedediah Huntington. Huntington served throughout the war and was promoted to brigadier general in 1777 following the Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Cregeau, who taught A.P. Art History for several years and collects American art and antiques, is described as a nationally recognized scholar of the American Revolution. He has spoken across the United States, including in Boston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
