Frederick Layton

Frederick Layton (May 18, 1827 – August 16, 1919) was an English-American businessman, philanthropist and art collector. He immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory, with his father in 1843, when the city was still a pioneer village. He played a major role in the creation of Milwaukee's meat packing industry and established a trans-Atlantic business exporting his meat products to Great Britain. During his lifetime, he made 99 trips across the Atlantic pursuing business interests and collecting fine art in London and the other capitals of Europe. Throughout his life, he consistently donated his money to support local charities and Milwaukee's art community.

In 1888, he commissioned the Layton Art Gallery on the corner of Mason and Jefferson streets in Milwaukee, one of the nation's earliest public art galleries. Layton was personally able to purchase over 200 works of art for the institution before dying at the age of 92. Though the original building of the Layton Art Gallery no longer exists, many of Layton's purchases found their way into the collection of early European and American art of the Milwaukee Art Museum.