Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Opened 1844 And The Oldest Continuously Operating Public Art Museum In The United States; Around 50,000 Works Across Five Connected Buildings On Main Street, Including The First American Museum Purchases Of Caravaggio And Surrealist Work · Hartford, Connecticut

Daniel Wadsworth opened this on Main Street in Hartford in 1844 and it has been open ever since, which makes it the oldest continuously operating public art museum in the United States - older than the Met by twenty-six years. The collection runs to around fifty thousand works across five connected buildings, from the Gothic Revival castle-fronted original through an Art Deco wing, and it is far stronger than a city of Hartford's size should support: Hudson River School landscapes in depth, European Old Masters including the first Caravaggio bought by any American museum, the first Surrealist works bought by any American museum, and a serious Amistad and African American collection. It is also chronically under-visited, which means you get Caravaggio and Dali to yourself on a Thursday morning, ten minutes from the Mark Twain House. It has been open since 1844, which makes it twenty-six years older than the Met, and it is the only museum in America to have bought its first Caravaggio and its first Surrealists ahead of everybody else.

600 Main Street, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, 06103, United States

Open most days through the middle of the day and afternoon, with at least one or two weekday closures - Mondays and Tuesdays most often - and closed on several major holidays. Evening opening runs on announced dates, often with music or a talk. The five connected buildings do not all open at once: parts of the complex close for reinstallation, so check before travelling if a particular collection is the reason for the visit.

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