Whom You Know Kicks Off Coverage of The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the first public art museum in the United States-Take a Trip to Connecticut!

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the first public art museum in the United States, paved the way for encyclopedic museums across the country. Founder Daniel Wadsworth opened the museum in 1844 with his collection of about 80 paintings, many purchased directly from the artists, and now the collection exceeds 50,000 works of art. The Wadsworth’s collections are the result of active acquisitions “in the moment” by patrons, directors and curators who continued Wadsworth’s dedication to collecting and supporting the work of living artists. The Wadsworth’s collection highlights include: 

§ One of the finest and most complete collections of Hudson River School paintings 

§ Over 4,000 works of European art from the Middle Ages to the present day 

§ A Surrealism collection including seminal works by both European and American artists 

§ 7,000 objects of European decorative art, including over 1,300 from the J. Pierpont Morgan collection 

The Wadsworth continues to acquire a wide range of works—including Contemporary art—to ensure that its encyclopedic collection will stay relevant into the future. In addition, the museum’s collection reaches an international audience— in the last ten years, more than 500 of the Wadsworth’s works have gone on loan to major museums in over 300 cities in 25 countries. 

American Art 

The Wadsworth Atheneum’s American art collection contains about 1000 paintings, 400 sculptures and 4,000 works on paper and was built continually over the 170 years since the museum’s founding. The recently reinstalled Hudson River School collection—which includes more than 65 landscapes by artists like Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, and Albert Bierstadt—was formed by Daniel Wadsworth, Elizabeth Colt and other patrons in the 19th century, who collected and commissioned works directly from the artists. This collecting ethos continued into the 20th century when the museum’s first professional director, Chick Austin, was at the forefront of collecting works on paper by American modernists like Edward Hopper and Ellsworth Kelly. Highlights include: 

§ Frederic Church, Hooker & Co, 1846 (acquired 1846) 

§ Thomas Cole, Mount Etna from Taormina, 1843 (acquired 1844) 

§ Georgia O’Keeffe, The Lawrence Tree, 1929 (acquired 1981) 

§ Andrew Wyeth, Chambered Nautilus, 1956 (acquired 1979) 

European Art 

The European art collection at the Wadsworth Atheneum contains about 900 paintings, 500 sculptures, and 3,500 works on paper. The museum has been at the forefront of collecting European painting and was the first U.S. museum to acquire a work by Caravaggio, one of only nine in the country today. The collection is particularly strong in Old Master and Impressionist works. Highlights include: 

§ Caravaggio, Saint Francis, 1595 (acquired 1943) 

§ Frans Hals, Portrait of Joseph Coymans, 1664 (acquired 1958) 

§ Giovanni Panini, The Picture Gallery of Cardianal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, 1749 (acquired 1948) 

§ Claude Monet, Beach at Trouville, 1870 (acquired 1948) 

§ Pierre-August Renoir, Monet Painting in his Garden at Argenteuil, 1873 (acquired 1957) 

Surrealism and Modernism 

In 1931, the Wadsworth was the first U.S museum to exhibit and collect works by European and American Surrealist artists. Artists represented in the collection include Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Giorgio de Chirico, Rene Magritte, Max Ernst, Joseph Cornell, and Yves Tanguy. Highlights include: 

§ Salvador Dali, Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach, 1938 (acquired 1939) 

§ Piet Mondrian, Composition in Blue and White, 1935 (acquired 1936) 

§ Joan Miro, Painting, 1933 (acquired 1934) 

§ Max Ernst, Europe after the Rain, 1940-42 (acquired 1942) 

§ Pablo Picasso, The Painter, 1934 (acquired 1953) 

Decorative Arts 

The collection of European and American decorative arts includes everything from rare examples of early American furnishings to European objects of curiosity. Approximately 1,300 of the objects are from the legendary collection of J.P. Morgan, a Hartford native. The museum also owns the Nutting Collection of pilgrim furniture and artifacts—containing rare examples of early colonial furnishings. Highlights include: 

§ Curiosity Cabinet, followers of Christoph Jamnitzer, c. 1620 (acquired 1917) 

§ Nautilus Snail, Jeremias Ritter, c. 1630 (acquired 1917) 

§ The Judgment of Paris, Johann Joachim Kaendler, Meissen Porcelain, c. 1762 (acquired 1917) 

§ Cupboard, Massachusetts, c. 1670 (acquired 1926) 

§ Vincennes and Meissen, Basket of Flowers, c. 1750 (acquired 1917) 

§ Rock Crystal Goblet, c.1662–1670 (acquired 2009) 

Contemporary Art 

In 1975, before most encyclopedic museums were exhibiting Contemporary art, the Wadsworth Atheneum established the MATRIX program, which has exhibited the work of living artists and built the museum’s collection of Contemporary works. This series of single-artist exhibitions has showcased more than 150 artists, providing many with their first solo museum exhibition in the United States. The MATRIX program is being re-launched in 2010, with exhibitions of emerging artists Kitty Kraus, Justin Lowe, and Kim Schoenstadt. 

MATRIX artists who had their first solo US museum exhibition at the Wadsworth include: 

Richard Tuttle (1975) 

Adrian Piper (1980) 

Nancy Spero (1983) 

Keith Haring (1984) 

Louise Lawler (1985) 

Barbara Kruger (1985) 

Gerhard Richter (1987) 

Lorna Simpson (1989) 

Glenn Ligon (1992) 

Janine Antoni (1996) 

Fiona Tan (2001) 

Francis Alys (2001) 

MATRIX artist collection highlights: 

Sol Le Witt, Wall Drawing: Whirls and Twirls, 2004 – one of six LeWitt wall drawings at the museum created over 25 years 

Willem de Kooning, Montauk 1, 1969 (acquired 1973) 

Andy Warhol, Early Colored Jackie, 1964 (acquired 1994) 

Louise Lawler, Living Room Corner, 1983 (acquired 1984) 

Lorraine O’Grady, Sisters I-IV, 1994 (acquired 1995) 

Christian Jankowski, The MATRIX Effect, 2000 (acquired 2000) 

Acquisitions 

The museum is actively acquiring new works that compliment the museums existing collection. In the last 10 years, the museum has acquired 1,460 new works in seven curatorial departments. Recent acquisition highlights include: 

§ Martin Puryear, Kiruna, 1982 (acquired 2009) 

§ Tara Donovan, Untitled (Toothpicks), 2004 (acquired 2009) 

§ Georgia O’Keeffe, Slightly Open Clam Shell, 1926 (acquired 2009) 

§ Thomas Cole, Life, Death, and Immortality, 1844 (acquired 2008) 

§ Rock Crystal Goblet, Johann Daniel Mayer, c. 1662-1670 (acquired 2009)