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| Established | 1844 |
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| Location | 600 Main Street, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Type | Art museum |
| Director | Thomas J. Loughman[1] |
| Public transit access |   61, 63, 69 |
| Website | thewadsworth |
Wadsworth Atheneum | |
Wadsworth Atheneum | |
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| Location | 25 Atheneum Sq., Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 41°45′48″N 72°40′26″W / 41.76333°N 72.67389°W |
| Built | 1842 – July 31, 1844 |
| Architect | Alexander Jackson Davis and Ithiel Town |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival[3][4] |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000709[2] |
| Added to NRHP | October 6, 1970 |
The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as collections of early American furniture and decorative arts.
Founded in 1842 and opened in 1844, it is the oldest continually operating public art museum in the United States.[5]
The museum is located at 600 Main Street in a distinctive castle-like building in downtown Hartford, Connecticut, the state's capital. With 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2) of exhibition space,[6] the museum is the largest art museum in the state of Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.[2]
The museum is a member of the North American Reciprocal Museums program.
- ^ "New Director and CEO Tom Loughman". Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Darbee, Herbert C. (August 25, 1969). "Wadsworth Atheneum" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory. National Park Service. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
- ^ "Wadsworth Atheneum" (PDF). Photographs. National Park Service. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
- ^ The Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport, Rhode Island was founded in 1747, and opened a private museum in 1750. Charles Willson Peale opened the Philadelphia Museum, a public museum on the second floor of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1786, and charged admission. The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, organized in 1805, opened its public museum in 1806, and charged admission of 25 cents. The Peale Museum in Baltimore, Maryland opened its doors to the public in 1814.
- ^ "Unveiling of Refurbished Galleries Marks Completion of Major Renovation and Secures Future for Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art" (PDF) (Press release). August 31, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
The renovation has reclaimed space previously used for storage and other purposes to add 17 new galleries—nearly 16,000 square feet of new exhibition space (a 27% increase)—to the building's existing footprint. [16000 is 27% of 59240, making the total 75000 sqft]