In 1882 Arnot’s collecting gained him international fame when he attended the sale of the Hamilton Palace collection. The London correspondent for the New York Tribune noted, “An American named Arnot has suddenly become an object of interest in London… There was a moment when Mr. Vanderbilt was expected to buy pretty much the entire contents of the palace. Whether any of the great dealers have been acting for unnamed American clients nobody can be quite sure, but the impression is that no formidable competitor from America has had much to do with the bidding prior to Mr. Arnot.”

In the 1890s Mr. Arnot commissioned the construction of the Picture Gallery to house his growing collection. His gallery was typical of the private art galleries found in the homes of many wealthy Americans in the late nineteenth-century. The Matthias Arnot Collection is composed of some of the greatest names in European painting and represents several movements in that genre. The collection of seventeenth-century masterworks include such Baroque artists as Claude, Murillo, Brueghel, de Lorme, Teniers and van de Velde. With a heightened sense of drama typical of this time period, the portraits, landscapes, mythological and genre scenes continue to capture the viewer and inspire curiosity about the Old Masters. Matthias Arnot’s legacy continues to make it possible for generations of area school children and adults to learn about, experience and create art.