Gustavus Hesselius (1682 – 1755)

• Was a Swedish-American painter.
• Hesselius was born in Folkärna parish at Avesta in Dalarna County, Sweden.
• Hesselius had studied art in Sweden and probably in England.
• He came to Wilmington, Delaware in 1711 together with his elder brother Andreas Hesselius.
• He lived in Delaware until 1717, then moved to Philadelphia where he lived until 1721.
• In 1721, he moved to Prince George's County, Maryland and became a portrait painter.
• That same year, he received the first recorded public art commission in the American colonies; he painted The Last Supper.
• Some time around 1735, Hesselius returned to Philadelphia where he spent the rest of his life. 

• Gustavus Hesselius was married to Lydia Getchie.

• He was the father of painter John Hesselius.

• He also worked as an organ builder, having built an organ for the Moravian Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1746.

• He referred painting commissions to his son John.

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