Peter A.B. Widener

Widener, Peter A.B. (American financier, collector, 1834-1915)

American transportation magnate and philanthropist. During the Civil War, Peter Arrell Brown Widener was a tradesman who supplied meat to the Union Army near Philadelphia. Following the war, he successfully invested his profits in trolley cars and public transit systems. He collected in the princely tradition; antique furniture, tapestries, and decorative arts created a palatial setting for his Old Master paintings and sculpture. Widener also set an important precedent for other American collectors by acquiring the works of Edouard Manet and Auguste Renoir when these artists were still considered daringly avant-garde. P. A. B. Widener left the family collection in trust to his son, Joseph, for eventual donation to a public museum. In 1942, the collection was donated to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.