Bernard Berenson and the Robert Lehman Collection
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BERNARD BERENSON AND THE ROBERT LEHMAN COLLECTION by HILLARY BARRON A thesis submitted to the Department of Ait History in confomiity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada June 2000 Copyright Q Hillary Barron. June 2000 National Library Bibliothèque nationale If1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wdlington OnawaON K1A ON1 Ottawa ON K1A üN4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microforni, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts Grom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. In this thesis, I intend to argue that the connoisseurship of Bernard Berenson significantly irnpacted the art collecting strategies of New York financiers Philip and Robeit Lehman. In the late nineteenth century, Berenson and the Lehmans were equally influenced by America's growing fascination with European culture. specifically that of the Italian Renaissance. I will show that Berenson's and the Lehmans' interest in the early ltalian masters stemmed from this period in Arnerican history referred to as the œAmericanRenaissance." When the Lehmans began collecting art in 191 1, Berenson was an established art advisor and agent. Subsequently, I will demonstrate that the Lehmans' interest in Berenson's connoisseurship indicates that Berenson influenced the collection from its inception. Robert Lehman held Berenson's opinion in high esteem and he continued to seek his advice regarding many aspects of the collection until Berenson's death in 1959. After taking the collection over from his father, Robert Lehman secured the reputation of his collection by loaning it to several different galleries. including the Metropolitan Museum of Art where he was a member of the Board of Trustees. I will conclude Mis thesis by demonstrating that art collecting was integral to Robert Lehman's sense of identity and the fact that it ended up at the Metropolitan was a means for him to pemanently affiliate himself w-th a world-renowned cultural institution. I want to thank rny supewisor, Professor Cathleen Hoeniger, for her guidance and support as I was researching and writing this thesis. Special thanks also goes to Dr. Laurence Kanter, Curator of the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who kindly took the tirne to respond to my questions and aid me in rny research. In addition, I would like to extend thanks to the following people for providing inspiration and encouragement as I labored towards my final draft: Vanessa Warne. Annabel Hansen, Andrea Bubenik, Alex Shama, Shaw Savoie, David Tomlinson, Megan Lindenbach and the Art Library Staff. Most importantly, a heaitfelt thanks goes to the Barron, Smith and Joly families. Finalfy, I want to thank my husband Jason for never allowhg me to take life too seriously. Table of Contents Abstract.. ............................................................................... p. i .. Acknowledgments.. ..................................................................p. II List of Illustrations.. .............................................................. ...p. iv Chapter One Bernard Berenson, Robert Lehman and the ltalian Renaissance in Nineteenth-Century America.. ....................P. 1 Chapter Two The Influence of Bernard Berenson's Connoisseurship on the Robert Lehman Collection.................................. p. 30 Chapter Thrw The Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art ...................................................... ......p. 55 Bibliography....................................................................... .p. 79 Illustrations.. ............................................................... p.84 Vita.. .................................................................................p. 106 List of Illustrations Fig. 1: Bernard Berenson, I Tatti Archive. Photo: David Morowitz Fig. 2: Robert Lehman. (From Leman, p. 288) Fig. 3: Hans Holbein the Younger, Erasmus of Rotterdam. Oil on Linden Panel. 18.4 x 14.2cm. Purchased by Robert Lehman in 1943. Fig. 4: Goya. Condesa de Altamira and Her Daughter, Maria Agustha. Oil on Canvas, 195 x 115cm. Purchased by Philip Lehrnan in 191 1. Fig. 5: Vel6zquez. Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spah. Oil on Canvas, 48 x 37m. Purchased by Philip Lehman in 1913. Fig. 6: Carlo Crivelli (attributed to), Madonna and Chi@ Enthroned. Tempera on Panel, 141 x 59.4cm. Purchased by Philip Lehman in 1912. Fig. 7: Giovanni Bellini, Madonna and Chrïd. Oïl on Panel, 53.9 x 39.9cm. Purchased by Philip Lehman in 1916. Fig. 8: Botticelli, Annunclation. Tempera on Panel, 19.1 x 31.4cm. Purchased by Robert Lehman in 1928. Fig. 9: Fra Bartolommeo, Madonna and Child with Infant Saint John the Baptist and Two Putti, Pen and Brown Ink, Brown Wash, White Heightening, Purchased by Robert Lehman in 1936. Fig. 10: Alesso Baldovinetti (?), A Seated Saint Reading from a Book, Brush and Brom Ink, Brown Wash, Heightened with White, 261 x 162mm. Purchased by Robert Lehman in 1936. Fig. 11: Artist Unknown, Landscape wifh Faure, Pen and Brown Ink, 178 x 21 1mm. Purchased by Robert Lehman in 1924. Fig. 12: Luca Signorelli. Head of a Man ih Profile. Black Chalk, Pen and Brown Ink, 299 x 244mm. Purchased by Robert Lehman in 1932. Fig. 13: Sassetta, Saht Frencis h Gloty. Berenson Collection, Çettignano. Fig. 14: The Odservanza Master, Saht Anthony the Abbot Ternpted by a Heap of GoM. Tempera on Panel, 47.8 x 34.5cm. Purchased by Philip Lehman in 1919. Fig. 15: The Ossetvanui Master, The Temptatan of Saht Anthony. Tempera on Panel, 14 % x 15 36 inches. James Jackson Jantes Collection, New Haven Connecticut. Fig. 16: Thomas Hov@ (From Lerman. p. 285) Fig. 17: FbrPlan of the Lehman Whg. (From Szabb, p. 31 1) Fig. 18: Metroplitan Museum of Art Ground Floor Plan with 1970 Master Plan Unshaded. (From Newhouse, p. 141) Fig. 19: Jacometto. AIvm Conta&& Oïl on Panel, 1 1-7 x 8.4cm. Purchased by Robert Lehman in 1967. Fig. 20: Jacometto La* PossBEy a Nun of San Secondo. Oil on Panel. 10.2 X 7.2m. Purchased by Robert Lehman in 1967. Fig. 2 1 : Hans Memling. Annunchtbn. Oil on Panel, Transferred to Canvas, 76.5 x 54.6~1.Purchased by Philip Lehman in 1920. Fig. 22: El Greco, Saht Jerome as çcholar. Oil on Canvas, 1O8 x 89cm. Purchased by Philip Lehman in 1912. Chapter One Bernard Berenson, Robert Lehrnan and the ltalian Renaissance in Nineteenth-Century America. By the late nineteenth century, many cutured Americans viewed the ltalian Renaissance as the epitome of high culture and civilized society.' The Ametican appreciation of the aesthetic of the ltalian Renaissance emergeâ during a time when the United States was between wars and realizing a period of peaœ and econornic prosperity. As America's financial and political status became more internationally renowned. its population increased due to an influx of immigration. Concurrently. late nineteenth-century Arnericans became interested in establishing a more homogenous national and cultural identity. In order to achieve this identrty, the United States looked to the Old World for cultural examples. The ltalian Renaissance was targeted specifically because nineteenth-century Americans began to view their society as the continuation of the artistic force which began in Greece and was 'reborn" in fifteenth-century Italy. The United States perceived their own fledgling nation to be next in the chronology of the world's great civilizations. Scholars refer to this era in nineteenth-century Western history as the "American Renaissance." Such admiration of the ltalian Renaissance duiing the late nineteenth century in the United States rnotivated the art collecting strategies of the wealthy elite, who envisioned themselves as the new royalty of the flourishing nation. The aesthetic of the ftalian Renaissance in America was promoted by members of saciety who held positions of wealth and authority. Businessman James Jackson Jarves. Harvard Professor Charles Eliot Norton and Bostonian socialite lsabella Stewart Gardner were among the first people in the United States to collect the ltalian rnasters. Jarves pioneered the acquisition of the early ltalian masters and was friends with Norton. who specialbed in the field of the ltalian Renaissance. Norton's lectures were attended by Gardner who was the wealthy patron of art critic and connaisseur, Bernard Berenson. Berenson had also studied under Norton at Harvard and became a key figure in advocating the works of the ltalian masters to wealthy Americans. In 1902, Berenson wrote to Gardner that 'advising about pictures is th8 path marked out for me. ..A could seIl ten times as much as I do now, if only I had a larger circle .... l want America to have as many good pictures as possib~e."~Berenson's connoisseurship influenced several American collections,