Daniel Wadsworth
Daniel Wadsworth (August 3, 1771 – July 28, 1848) of Hartford, Connecticut, was an amateur artist, architect, arts patron, and traveler. He is best known for founding the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford’s major art museum.
He came from wealthy, influential families. His father, Jeremiah Wadsworth, was very rich; his mother, Mehithabel Russell Wadsworth, came from an elite background. His sister Catharine Wadsworth married U.S. Representative Nathaniel Terry Jr.
Educated partly at home, he learned about art and architecture from his father, who traveled in Europe with him. Wadsworth enjoyed making art and sketches. He traveled with writer Benjamin Silliman and painter Thomas Cole to places like Niagara Falls and the White Mountains to sketch and write.
He supported artists, helped plan their sketching trips, and was an early promoter of Frederic Edwin Church. He helped Cole introduce Church to study with him, launching Church’s famous career.
Wadsworth bought the entire collection of the American Academy of the Fine Arts in New York and announced plans for a Gallery of Fine Arts in Hartford. The building, later named the Wadsworth Atheneum, opened with many works from his own collection and from the Academy.
He also helped poet Lydia Sigourney publish her first books. In 1794 he married Faith Trumbull, daughter of Senator and Governor Jonathan Trumbull Jr., and he knew her uncle, painter John Trumbull.
Daniel Wadsworth died in Hartford on July 28, 1848.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:17 (CET).