Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art history

The first is the 1844 Gothic Revival Wadsworth building, designed by architects Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis.

Daniel Wadsworth passed away in 1848, just six short years after the Atheneum was opened.

In 1905, the museum received a generous donation when Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt bequeathed over 1,000 objects—including Hudson River School paintings, decorative works, and the firearms collection of her late husband Samuel Colt—as well as funds for the construction of the Colt Memorial.

The eastern extension of Morgan Memorial, 1912 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Illustrated

Wadsworth Atheneum, Morgan Memorial, and Municipal Building, Main Street, Hartford, about 1920.

In 1926 Morgan purchased the preeminent Wallace Nutting collection of American “Pilgrim Century” furniture and decorative arts for the Wadsworth Atheneum.

In 1927 the bequest of Hartford banker Frank C. Sumner established the Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection fund, in memory of his wife and sister-in-law.

Speaking of Caravaggio, the museum became in 1930 the first American museum to hold an exhibition of Baroque paintings straight outta the 1500 - 1600s.

The Avery Memorial opened in 1934 and was the first American museum building fashioned in the International Style.

They had a stroke of genius in 1942 when they purchased the painting St Francis of Assisi on Ecstasy, by the now famous Italian Renaissance master Caravaggio.

In 1966 James Elliot became director and during his 10-year tenure developed the contemporary collection, in particular, presenting innovative programs of theater, music, and dance.

In 1975 he founded the MATRIX program of focused exhibitions, performances, and lectures reflecting diverse trends in contemporary art.

Beginning in 2000, directors Kate Sellers and Willard Holmes led the museum during a period in which large portions of the its American and European collections traveled throughout the United States and Europe to unprecedented acclaim.