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historical notes
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Matthias Hollenback Arnot was an art collector, gas manufacturer, financier, businessman, and philanthropist.
Arnot left his collection, more than 80 paintings and sculptures, and his home to the town of Elmira to form their first art museum—The Arnot Art Gallery, now known as the Arnot Art Museum. Arnot’s 1890s Picture Gallery (restored in 1985) is an American private picture gallery housed in its original collection and location.
Arnot collected work by old masters, American and European contemporary artists. His collection included work by, among others, Anthonie de Lorme, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Jules-Adolphe Breton, Jan Brueghel (the Elder), Claude Gellee dit Lorrain, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Jean-Francois Millet, Emilio Sanchez- Perrier, Johann Brueghel the Elder & Jan Rottenhammer, Peter Paul Rubens, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Jehan-Georges Vibert, Velázquez, Hobbema, Charles Francois Daubigny, Pierre Etienne Théodore Rousseau, Gustave Courbet, and Constant Troyon.
Arnot’s business concerns included The Chemung Canal Bank, The Sheldon Saddlery Co., Thomas Briggs & Co. (brewers), The Junction Canal Co., and The Elmira Industrial Association. He was a member of the Calumet, Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht and Delta Phi clubs of New York City.
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