Isaac Dudley Fletcher
Isaac Dudley Fletcher (May 13, 1844 – April 28, 1917) was an American industrialist, art collector, and museum benefactor. He was born in Bangor, Maine, and moved to New York City in 1865. He led Barrett Manufacturing Company, which distributed asphalt, and became a prominent businessman and art patron. He was a member of the Lotos Club and the Union League Club, and he built a New York City mansion that is today known as the Harry F. Sinclair House.
Fletcher built a large collection of paintings by artists such as David, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Reynolds, Rubens, Wyant, Corot, and Daubigny. When he died, he left the collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with a substantial fund to purchase more art. The Fletcher Fund helped acquire several paintings for the Met, including the Portrait of Juan de Pareja.
His wife was Marie Elizabeth Pickering, whom he married in 1864; she died in 1914. They had one son, Isaac Dudley Fletcher. Fletcher died in New York City in 1917 at the age of 72.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:25 (CET).