The 18th-century Belmont estate was the country home and studio of prominent portraitist, muralist, and American Impressionist painter Gari Melchers (1860-1932). The house contains Gari and Corinne Melchers’ original furnishings and personal art collection, the studio houses over 1600 works by Melchers, and the 27-acre grounds feature restored formal gardens and miles of walking trails.
Associated with the University of Mary Washington, Belmont holds 1,677 of his paintings and drawings and 414 works by other artists. 3000 items of the Melchers' furniture, decorative objects, and books fill the Georgian-style house (pre-1785) and studio (1924). Rotating exhibitions span his career.
Melchers amassed a rich and varied collection of antique furniture and carpets, fine china and pottery, and paintings and prints by Old Masters and new. Notable are a French Savonnerie carpet and a Dutch Rococo secretary, Chinese export porcelain and Delft and Wedgwood dishes. Other highlights include important American miniatures by Raphaelle Peale and Henry Benbridge, Flemish work attributed to Cornelis de Vos, Wybrant de Geest, Balthasar van der Ast, and a monumental Market Scene by the workshop of Frans Snyders.
Also on display is the art of Gari's wife, Corinne Melchers, including The Model, a “picture within a picture” portrait of Gari at work.