Art collecting in America's Gilded Age was fraught with uncertainty and dubious business practices. In no other partnership is this more evident than that of Henry Walters, whose father established Baltimore's legendary museum, and Bernard Berenson, the era's preeminent connoisseur of Italian Renaissance painting. Stanley
Mazaroff tells the intriguing story of this close yet contentious relationship.
In an effort to expand the reputation and renown of the museum, Waltersaccepted Berenson's proposal to assess the authenticity of Walters's collection and to acquire additional Renaissance Italian paintings. Yet a friendship that began warmly quickly cooled when it
surfaced that Berenson was holding back better paintings
for other American patrons.
The relationship between Walters and Berenson illustrates the travails of art collecting in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America. Mazaroff describes in great detail how Berenson selected Walters as a client and the terms of their dealercustomer
contract, Berenson's analysis of Walters's large collection of Italian paintings, and the factors that determined which paintings Berenson sold to Walters. Mazaroff also discusses the high-handed business practices of Berenson and the ethical issues that ultimately drove the two friends apart. The book is based primarily on correspondence between the two men and archival material'never before analyzed'recently discovered at Berenson's home,
the Villa I Tatti in Florence. For art and cultural historians and educated readers it offers fascinating insight into Renaissance art, the history of art collecting, and the founding of American museums.
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