During your visit to this Hartford, Connecticut attraction, explore the Museum’s permanent collections including the celebrated Hudson River School collection as well as special exhibitions. Dining and shopping is offered in the Museum Café and Museum Shop.
Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art Collections
Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art numbers nearly 50,000 works of art and spans 5,000 years. Among the Museum’s holdings are American Art, American Decorative Art, Colt Firearms, Contemporary Art, Costume and Textiles, European Art and European Decorative Art.
American Art
The American art collection is comprised of 1,000 paintings, 400 sculptures and 4,000 works on paper. At the core of the American art collection is the Hudson River School collection, including more than 65 landscapes by artist such as Thomas Cole, Frederic Church and Albert Bierstadt. Additional highlights within the collection include 18th century portraits by Ralph Earl and John Singleton Copley, 19th century still lifes by the Peale family, late 19th century trompe l’oeil paintings, and American modernism, with important paintings by Marsden Hartley, Georgia O’Keefe, and Andrew Wyeth. Among the sculptors represented in the American art collection are Horatio Greenough, Harriet Hosmer, Gaston Lachaise, Elie Nadelman, Paul Manship and Alexander Calder.
American Decorative Art
From intricately carved and painted 17th century chests to modern masterpieces of Marcel Breuer and Frank Lloyd Wright, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art interprets the history of material culture in New England and America. Connecticut craftsman are represented with fine examples of Samuel Loomis, maker of Colchester/Norwich style furniture and Eliphalet Chapin, Connecticut’s most renowned colonial cabinetmaker.
The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Collection
The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Collection is comprised of American and European paintings and sculpture and the furnishings and contents of Armsmear, the mansion built by Samuel Colt in 1857. Colt’s personal collections of firearms, edged weapons and armor are also included in the collection. Featured items include the wooden model carved by Colt aboard ship in his youth that led him to the design of the perfect revolver, Moorish swords, Italian armor and rare examples of Colt’s own products including the Walker-Texas holster pistol, one of the most storied handguns on the Western Frontier.
Contemporary Art
The Museum’s Contemporary art collection is comprised of works from 1945 to the present and includes strong examples of Abstract Expressionism, Color Field painting, Pop art and recent movements in painting, sculpture, photography and video. Among the artists represented in the collection are Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Salvador Dalí, Piet Mondrian, Andy Warhol and Sol LeWitt.
Costume and Textiles
Boasting 2,500 textile objects and 5,000 costumes and accessories, the Costume and Textiles collection spans from Coptic to Contemporary, ranges in size from thimbles to tapestries and represents every continent. Notable items within the collection include paper gowns created by contemporary artists for the Atheneum’s Paper Balls of 1936 and 1966, the Lifar collection of Ballets Russes’ paintings and drawings supplemented by the companies’ costumes and two rare and beautiful tapestry series from the 17th and 18th centuries that illustrate the Story of Psyche and the Story of Jason.
European Art
European holdings include 900 paintings, 500 sculptures and 3,500 works on paper, spanning from the medieval to the modern period with highlights including works by Monet, Renoir, Holman Hunt, and Wright of Derby. Strengths within the collection include Italian Baroque paintings represented by Caravaggio, Gentileschi, and Strozzi and surrealist works by Dali, Miro, Ernst and Magritte.
European Decorative Art
The Museum’s European Decorative Arts collection is comprised of 7,000 objects, 1,300 of which are drawn from the legendary collection of J. Pierpont Morgan and include ancient glass and bronzes, Italian maiolica, Venetian and facon de venise glass, nautilus cups, ostrich-egg ewers, mounted ivories, silver-gilt vessels, Meissen porcelain and Vincennes and Sevres porcelain. Additional holdings include a large collection of ceramics, English silver from the Elizabeth B. Miles Collection, ceramic veilleuses from The Harold and Wendy Newman Collection and The Richard and Georgette A. Koopman Collection of Dutch Delft.
Dining in the Museum Café
Enjoy a snack or lunch at the Museum Café. The Museum Café’s menu features freshly prepared appetizers, soups, sandwiches, salads and flatbreads.
Shopping at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Be sure to stop by the Museum Shop at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Accessories, books, catalogues, décor, music, wall art, games and toys, and paper goods related to Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art’s permanent collection and special exhibitions are available to purchase.
- Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is ADA compliant. Wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis from the Avery entrance on Atheneum Square North.
- Do not forget your camera. Still photography is permitted in the Museum’s permanent collection galleries for personal, non-commercial use.