Albert Gallatin

Gilbert Stuart

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Albert Gallaton (1761-1849) was born into an aristocratic Swiss family in Geneva. In 1780, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Pennsylvania, where he launched his political career. In 1794, he was elected to the first of three terms in the House of Representatives, where he founded the Committee on Ways and Means. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson appointed his Secretary of the Treasury. He served as ambassador to France from 1816 to 1823, and to Britain, 1826 to 1827.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art