Peter Arrell Browne Widener

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For his grandson, the American racehorse owner and breeder, see Peter Arrell Browne Widener II.
Peter Arrell Browne Widener
American Tobacco
SpouseHannah Josephine Dunton
ChildrenHarry (1859-1874)
George Dunton (1861-1912)
Joseph Early (1871-1943)

Peter Arrell Browne Widener (November 13, 1834 – November 6, 1915) was an American businessman, art collector, and patriarch of the Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1]

Widener was ranked #29 on the American Heritage list of the forty richest Americans in history, with a net worth at death of $23 billion to $25 billion (in 1998 dollars).[2]

Early life

The son of a Philadelphia butcher, Widener was born on November 13, 1834, to Johannes Widener and Sarah Fulmer. He was named after Peter Arrell Browne (1782–1860),[3] a noted lawyer in 19th-century Philadelphia.[1]

Career

During the

trolley
lines, and expanded into other major cities in the United States.

Peter Widener Mausoleum in Laurel Hill Cemetery

He and his business partner,

Charles Tyson Yerkes, the streetcar czar of Chicago. Widener used the great wealth accumulated from public transportation to become a founding organizer of U.S. Steel and the American Tobacco Company, as well as to acquire substantial holdings in Standard Oil and International Mercantile Marine Company. He is considered to have been among the 100 wealthiest Americans, having left an enormous fortune.[5]

He died on November 6, 1915, in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania and was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.[6]

Personal life

In 1858, he married Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836–1896), and they had three sons. His first son Harry (1859-1874) died young, from typhoid fever. His son

RMS Titanic. His youngest son Joseph Early Widener (1871–1943) was a noted art collector. His grandson, George D. Widener Jr. (1889-1971), a noted horse racing figure, was also the chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[7]

P.A B. Widener died at Lynnewood Hall at the age of 80 on November 6, 1915, having suffered from poor health for three years.[8][1] After his death, his estate was valued at $31,589,353.[9] By 1945, the accumulated income plus the current value of the real and personal property totaled $98,368,058.[9]

Residences

In 1887, Widener built an ornate mansion, designed by Willis G. Hale, in Philadelphia, at the northwest corner of Broad Street and Girard Avenue. He vacated it 13 years later and donated it (as a memorial for his late wife) to the Free Library of Philadelphia, which used it as a branch library from 1900 to 1946. The building burned in 1980, and it was demolished.

In 1900, he completed

Auguste Renoir
.

Art collection

Widener amassed a significant art collection that included works by

Degas
and Manet.

About 1905, he purchased the crucifixion panel from Rogier van der Weyden's Crucifixion Diptych (c.1460) in Paris. The following year he sold it to John G. Johnson, who reunited the two halves and later donated them to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[11]

Widener's son Joseph donated more than 300 works—including paintings, sculpture, metalwork, stained glass, furniture, rugs, Chinese porcelains, and majolica—to the National Gallery of Art in 1942.[12]

The following works of art are all now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., unless otherwise noted:

Old Masters

  • Crucifixion (c.1460) by Rogier van der Weyden, Philadelphia Museum of Art
    Crucifixion (c.1460) by Rogier van der Weyden, Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • The Small Cowper Madonna (c.1505) by Raphael
    The Small Cowper Madonna (c.1505) by Raphael
  • The Schoolmaster (1575) by Giovanni Battista Moroni
    The Schoolmaster (1575) by Giovanni Battista Moroni
  • Saint Martin and the Beggar (1597-1599) by El Greco
    Saint Martin and the Beggar (1597-1599) by El Greco
  • Marchesa Elena Grimaldi (c.1623) by Anthony van Dyck
    Marchesa Elena Grimaldi (c.1623) by Anthony van Dyck
  • The Mill (1645-1648) by Rembrandt van Rijn
    The Mill (1645-1648) by Rembrandt van Rijn
  • Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves (1656) by Rembrandt
    Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves (1656) by Rembrandt
  • Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan (1656) by Rembrandt
    Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan (1656) by Rembrandt
  • The Dancing Couple (1663) by Jan Steen
    The Dancing Couple (1663) by Jan Steen
  • Woman Holding a Balance (c.1664) by Vermeer
    Woman Holding a Balance (c.1664) by Vermeer

British paintings

  • Lady Elizabeth Hamilton (1758) by Sir Joshua Reynolds
    Lady Elizabeth Hamilton (1758) by Sir Joshua Reynolds
  • The Honorable Mrs. Thomas Graham (c.1777-1778) by Thomas Gainsborough
    The Honorable Mrs. Thomas Graham (c.1777-1778) by Thomas Gainsborough
  • The Hoppner Children (1791) by John Hoppner
    The Hoppner Children (1791) by John Hoppner
  • Wivenhoe Park, Essex (1816) by John Constable
    Wivenhoe Park, Essex (1816) by John Constable
  • Venice–The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore (1834) Joseph Mallord William Turner
    Venice–The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore (1834)
    Joseph Mallord William Turner
  • Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight (1835) by Joseph Mallord William Turner
    Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight (1835) by Joseph Mallord William Turner

French Impressionism

  • The Dead Toreador (1864) by Édouard Manet
    The Dead Toreador (1864) by Édouard Manet
  • The Artist's Studio (c.1868) Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
    The Artist's Studio (c.1868) Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
  • The Dancer (1874) by Auguste Renoir
    The Dancer (1874) by Auguste Renoir
  • Before the Ballet (1890-1892) by Edgar Degas
    Before the Ballet (1890-1892) by Edgar Degas

20th century

Decorative arts

  • Florentine Cassone (late 15th century), unknown Italian maker
    Florentine Cassone (late 15th century), unknown Italian maker
  • Vergine Annunciata Window (1498-1503) by Giovanni di Domenico
    Vergine Annunciata Window (1498-1503) by Giovanni di Domenico
  • Dolphin Helmet (c.1540-1545) by Giovanni Paolo di Negroli
    Dolphin Helmet (c.1540-1545) by Giovanni Paolo di Negroli
  • Guanyin figure, Kangxi period (1662–1722), unknown Chinese porcelain artist
    Guanyin figure, Kangxi period (1662–1722), unknown Chinese porcelain artist

See also

  • Rhône (The) v. Peter A.B. Widener (The)
    (a barge named after Widener was involved in a collision in Canada, which became a noted court case)
  • Widener University

References

  1. ^
    New York Times
    . November 7, 1915. Retrieved 2012-10-02. Peter A.B. Widener, capitalist and philanthropist, art collector and lover of children, who climbed from the humble station of a butcher to that of a leader in the world of finance, died today at his home, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park. Mr. Widener was 80 years old, and had been in poor health for three years.
  2. ^ a b c Gibson, Christine (October 1998). "The American Heritage". American Heritage. Vol. 49, no. 6.
  3. ^ "18 May 1892, Page 4 - Oakland Tribune at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  4. ^ Martin, John Hill (1883-01-01). Martin's Bench and Bar of Philadelphia: Together with Other Lists of Persons Appointed to Administer the Laws in the City and County of Philadelphia, and the Province and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. R. Welsh & Company. p. 102.
  5. ^ The Wealthy 100 Archived 2014-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Laurel Hill Cemetery
  7. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  8. ^ Times, Special To The New York (14 November 1914). "P.A.B. WIDENER'S BIRTHDAY; Financier Celebrates Eightieth Anniversary at His Office". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b Times, Special To The New York (27 January 1945). "WIDENER ESTATE SET AT $31,589,353". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  10. ^ Levy, Florence Nightingale (1917). American Art Annual, Volume 13. MacMillan Company. p. 320.
  11. ^ Philadelphia Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection: Catalogue of Flemish and Dutch Paintings (Philadelphia: George H. Buchanan Co., 1972), pp. 94-95.
  12. ^ Widener Collection, from National Gallery of Art.

External links

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