George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum

The George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum is one of the two Springfield Museums dedicated to fine and decorative arts. It represents the very personal taste of the Victorian collector whose name it bears. The Museum was built in 1895 in the style of an elegant Italian villa and opened to the public in 1896 as the "Art Museum."

Inside the golden brick facade you'll be treated to the personal and distinctive art preferences of Smith and his Springfield-born wife, Belle Townsley Smith. Smith made his fortune as a carriage manufacturer in New York City and retired when he was just 35 years old. He and his wife moved to Springfield in 1871 and devoted their lives to collecting art. Although Smith never visited Asia, he had a life-long appreciation for its decorative arts and culture. By buying from dealers in New York and Europe, he became a leading 19th-century collector of Chinese, Japanese and Middle Eastern art, and also amassed an outstanding selection of 19th-century American paintings.

Little is known about the details of Smith's life. He was a very private person, and after his death his wife disposed of a number of diaries and letters that did not pertain directly to their art collections. The couple had no children and there are no known family descendants. George Walter Vincent Smith's legacy is this Museum.

Smith stated that his criterion for collecting was beauty. This love of beauty, combined with his appreciation of the finest craftsmanship from around the world, resulted in a selection of art which represents both the individual man and the collective taste of the Victorian era.