Last year, I did two posts of summer reading lists (here and here), following the pattern of many publications (e.g., The New York Times Book Review’s is out this weekend), but suggesting all artsy books. I’ve been on the lookout again this year, but haven’t seen very many that look enticing. So — probably no lists this year, but rather an occasional notice of one or two books.
Here’s one, brought to my attention earlier this week when The Wall Street Journal reviewed Henry Walters and Bernard Berenson, by Stanley Mazaroff. It tells the story of the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, whose collection was put together, for a while, with the help of Berenson.
Mazaroff is a lawyer, now retired, as well as a trustee of the Walters, so it’s a good bet that Berenson fares poorly. Here’s one paragraph of the review:
The 33 paintings that Walters purchased through Berenson are, for Mr. Mazaroff, the key evidence of Berenson’s slipperiness. A third of them had their attributions changed over the century that followed. Yet the rate of reattribution matches that of the Old Masters that Walters bought through other dealers–and is much lower than for the art that Walters bought on his own.
Berenson figures so much in the story of art-collecting in the U.S. that the book is worth a look. Here’s the link to the WSJ review.