Towns throughout New London County are taking new interest in the art hanging on their walls. Paintings that hung for years in public chambers or hallways have been sent for cleaning or restoration. Art is being appraised, and their provenance is being carefully documented for posterity.

In Preston, officials are paying to restore a landscape that hung for years in a meeting room after it was salvaged from a potato barn.

"Forge Brook Pond - Poquetanuck" was painted by John D. Crocker, a landscape artist who was born in Salem in 1822 and lived in Norwich, where he maintained a studio. He died in 1907.

The Slater Museum has a collection of more than 45 of Crocker's paintings and drawings, and director Vivian Zoe is excited that the town has agreed to loan the painting to the museum after the restoration is completed.

"They are so elegantly painted. They're beautiful," Zoe said of his work, which she noted is typical of the Hudson River School of artists, who were inspired by the dramatic vistas of that area of New York. "He had a very deep affection for the landscape. There's almost a religious reverence, which is typical of the Hudson River School."

In "Forge Brook Pond," trees surround a cove, which reflects the greenery and brooding clouds above. A boy and his dog walk along a path, perhaps on a fishing excursion. Small human figures dominated by the natural landscape also is a typical motif of the Hudson River painters, she said.

"It's a wonderful painting," agreed Joseph Matteis Jr., the conservator who has been entrusted with the restoration. "It's an important American painting. It's an important painting for the region."

Matteis has already determined that the painting had been restored at some point.

"This painting had serious, serious water damage," he said. "A large part of the upper painting had been replaced." About 8 to 10 percent of the landscape's sky was repainted, and the paint has browned. Either that, "or it's bird droppings, and I'm hoping it's not bird droppings," he said.

Matteis will begin by using ultraviolet and infrared photography to assess the painting's condition. He will repaint the areas that have discolored, and if the solvent that he uses to clean the painting loosens the glue from the earlier restoration, he may have to replace the lining as well. "We want to be as least invasive as possible," he said.

How it was damaged and who repaired it are among the mysteries associated with "Forge Brook Pond - Poquetanuck." What is known is that the painting dates to 1894 and was donated to the town, probably around 1961, by his granddaughter, Mira R. Gager.

First Selectman Robert Congdon said he had heard the painting was found in a potato barn on property the town acquired to build a public works garage, but how that relates to the donation is unknown.

"What happened once she gave it to the town is a big mystery," said Zoe, who has been researching both the Crocker family tree and where this landscape was painted.

The town is investing approximately $3,500 to restore the painting and another $3,000 to restore the frame, Congdon said. After that, it will be displayed at Slater Museum for 10 years, where it will join the museum's collection of more than 45 Crocker paintings.

"Even once it was brought into Town Hall, it was displayed in very, very inappropriate conditions," Zoe said. "Kudos to Bob Congdon and the town for realizing it's better off in a museum."

A Doughboy returns

Old Lyme recently celebrated the return of "Spirit of the Doughboy," a magnificent pastel painting that was presented to the town as a memorial to World War I soldiers.

The Town Hall was built as a World War I memorial, and artist Albert Herter's drawing depicts a soldier and a female figure - Lady Liberty, perhaps - holding the Stars and Stripes. Her gown is a vibrant orange set against the reds and blues of the flag.

The town recently spent $17,000 to clean and restore the work, with some money from a public improvement fund, said First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder.

The results have been dramatic. The framed work hangs above the main stairway at the Town Hall entrance, and Reemsnyder said people have remarked on it since the unveiling in April.

"They definitely notice the brilliance of the color now that it's been restored," she said. "It's such a large piece."

Old Lyme maintains a fund each year to clean or repair its artwork on a rotating basis. The fund, about $3,000, is modest, but it ensures that the paintings get needed attention.

"I think it's very important for a town to maintain what it has," Reemsnyder said. "People donated these paintings in good faith that we would do that."