George A. Hearn was an art collector and New York dry goods merchant whose collection consisted of paintings by contemporary American artists including Ralph Albert Blakelock, Arthur B. Davies, George Fuller, Childe Hassam, George Inness, Winslow Homer, Theodore Robinson, John Singer Sargent and Whistler. Hearn also collected ancient Chinese porcelain, ivory carvings, decorative art and artworks by 17th, 18th and 19th century European painters. He owned pictures by Constable, Cuyp, Hogarth and Van Dyck. Much of his collection was donated or bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where he served as a trustee and established the Hearn Fund (1906) for the purchase of paintings by living American artists. Since Hearn's death the terms of his gift have been interpreted as available for the purchase of works by artists who were alive in 1906. Overall he gave 130 paintings to the Metropolitan Museum, including P72 Lake Nemi and Genzano from the Terrace of the Capuchin Monastery and works by Gainsborough, Reynolds and Constable.
