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Henry Walters and Bernard Berenson: Collector and Connoisseur

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This book Henry Walters and Bernard Berenson: Collector and Connoisseur is based mainly on archival documents and correspondence recently discovered at the Walters Art Museum and The Villa I Tatti, in Florence, Bernard Berenson's former home. In this book, Mazaroff focuses on the huge influx of Renaissance Art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and two of the men who were leaders in collecting and displaying such art.

Thus Stanley Mazaroff constructed the riveting story of Walters and Berenson and in so doing, offers unusual insights into the marketplace of sales, attributions of art that is sought after and acquired by American art museums and other collectors.

The author did exhausting researched as he documented the devil in the details of the antiquities market place, which has gone on forever and continues to this day. Several years ago, it was estimated by several celebrated Arts and Antiquity consultants, that more than 50% of the art in major museums and private collections, are mistaken, or fraudulently attributed, or counterfeited. Even more recently several newly acquired pieces of art by major museums were suspected of being counterfeited or erroneously attributed after the fact.

Henry Walters and Bernard Berenson: Collector and Connoisseur is an extremely well written book, which allowed it to sail along rather smoothly. The author's aura-constructs were supported by his luminescent language, which matched the high level of formal writing styles, education, sophistication, and the view of the market place of that era running from the turn of the 19th into the early 20th Century. It simultaneously recreated the milieu which surrounded and motivated those most interested in the pleasures and frustrations of collecting back then. Many of those who could afford to collect art and antiquities at that time, were exhibiting a notch above mere ego; it was, in some cases, a means of flaunting their riches thus drawing great attention to themselves. In this case, the art collected and exhibited by Walters was a means to an end. One might assume that since Mr. Walters seldom even looked at the artwork once he possessed it, he had no real interest in the paintings as things of beauty to behold. Was ego, status, and/or a desire for prestige overwhelm Walters, or was he simply a fellow whose ideals were extremely high?

Within the story of the growing friendship and professional adherence of two men, one of which profited by his advice and the other who profited in other ways from it, there are pages of appendices with correspondence, photos and documentation, of some of the collection. From the outset Henry Walters, the wealthy collector was suspicious of Bernard Berenson the connoisseur. That they formed a bond both as professional and later a personal nature was bound to suffer in both realms if there was a disturbance in either realm. It is not surprising that the agenda of each were bound to clash. There were two periods of activity between the two men. The first was severed by Walters when he discovered Berenson's complicity with another buyer to sell that buyer the crème d-la crème' and restrict Walters to leftovers. Why Walters allowed Berenson back inside was a mystery to me, which becomes clearer to the reader, which it did for a few years to Walters.

Walters opened his Italianate museum in 1909, and very soon it was seen as America's "Great Temple of Art." Its walls were filled with more than 500 Italian paintings, some attributed to Michelangelo and his junior and worshipful younger rival, Raphael. Walters' collection rivaled the great collections in Europe, when first Berenson contacted him offering to analyze his collection, create a scholarly catalog and assist him in acquiring an even larger and more prestigious series of additions to his museum.

The catalog would be a sort of advertising as well as historical, informational tribute to the museum and all it contained, and in Berenson Walters, thought he had the right man to make all of his dreams come true. Berenson was the bestrower of a needed imprimatur, which would inevitably send the Walters collection soaring into the stratosphere, surpassed all existing competitors.

Berenson, despite initially approaching Walters with his marketing plan, he quickly turned on Walters's collection, burying his promises in a stream of criticism, which deeply hurt Walters. It is my speculation that he did so, to remake the Collection in his own image. That by reviling it and then entering into a business relationship with Walter's whatever successes the museum attained under Berenson's tutelage and guidance, would be attributed more to Berenson than Walters.

Three years after encountering each other (1912), Walters had become Berenson's most acquisitive client, and a close personal friend. Though Berenson's guidance led Walker's collection and museum up the road to eminent success and recognition, the relationship gave the appearance of one which was failing. Was it truly crumbling at its foundations, besotted with broken promises, deceit, and other conflicts? Or were they able to sustain their seemingly once professional demeanor and friendship as well, as the search went on? Did they prosper as men of honor building a home for more than 500 great and marginal paintings? These and more are questions will be answered by a fine book, which details all of the tedium, adventure and excitement of the slippery sloped collectible's market place.

If you have an interest in Renaissance Art, collecting and antiquities, or simply love non-fictional books in which intrigue, greed, deceit, betrayal, pomposity and sincerity are rampant and often working side-by-side, you will LOVE this book.

In 1902, Henry Walters acquired a collection of over nine hundred paintings from Don Marcello Massarenti who was once influential in the Holy See. The art work ultimately ended up in Baltimore, Maryland.

Bernard Berenson, also actively involved in the art world as a connoisseur and dealer, would eventually meet Walters and become the kingpin to make or destroy Walter's reputation as the owner of the greatest gallery in America. Berenson "using his extaordinary intellect, impeccable scholarship, and entrepreneurial skills... convinced wealthy Americans to embark on a shopping spree for Italian Renaissance paintings that would last for generations." Berenson possessed the ability to make or break a collection based on his attribution of the art and his stamp of approval or lack thereof.

First meeting in 1912, Walters quickly became Berenon's most active client, but behind his back, Berenson entered into a lucrative contract with the controversial art dealer, Joseph Duveen. In this deal, Berenson agreed to offer everything of importance first to Duveen thereby restricting Walters from buying the best paintings. Isabella Stewart Gardner of the beautiful museum of the same name, caught on to Berenson's unscrupulous ways and eventually quit dealing with him.

Bernard Berenson became a very wealthy man through his suspicious dealings in art to the seeming detriment of Henry Walters. In the end however, it is Walters who has triumphed through the years renowned for its scholarship, Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland is one of the finest Italian Renaissance and Baroque collections in the United States.

This book is thorough and intriguing full of very interesting historical and art related details.

This is the second book I have read in the past couple of months about the amazing, convoluted world of art collecting, dealing, and authentication/attribution. I find the topic interesting, and this book is certainly well-researched and thorough. (The author had previously been a lawyer, but retired and studied art history. He is also evidently on the board of the Walters Art Museum, so has a personal interest in the topic.)

It focuses on art collector Henry Walters and his relationship with Bernard Berenson, a connoisseur. Walters relied on Berenson to authenticate attributions on his existing collection and facilitate and recommend new pieces for purchase. In addition to being motivated by his love of art, Berenson is also motivated by money, leading him to enter into questionable partnerships.

One of these partnerships is with Sir Joseph Duveen, who also factors heavily into the other book I read recently, The American Leonardo: A Tale of Obsession, Art and Money. Alone and in combination, these two books show how the world of art dealing is fraught with uncertainty and greed.

I think this book would be interesting to art and art history students, collectors, art lovers, and those who (like me) enjoy knowing a little more about the artwork we admire in museums.

For approximately a million dollars Henry Walters of Baltimore purchased the Massarenti collection, promising to keep it intact. Massarenti had been an advisor to the Holy See. Walters was aware of misattributions in the collection. Bernard Berenson proposed to analyze the massive collection of Italian paintings. Walters was wary. Berenson was both a connoisseur and a merchant. Walters left the gallery and the art collection to the people of Baltimore. Berenson had been a prominent disciple of Walter Pater. Berenson's first patron was Isabella Stewart Gardner. Henry Walters's father collected art of the Hudson River School painters. His favorite was Kensett. Henry Walters left Baltimore in 1884. Subsequently he lived in Wilmington, North Carolina and New York City. In 1899 he launched his own career as a collector. Among Gilded Age collections, Henry's was the most encyclopedic.

In Renaissance Art it is difficult to define what is an original work and what is a copy since virtually duplicate works were generated by the artists and their workshops. The practice of imitation was encouraged. Copies proliferated in teaching academies. The Italian culture of reproduction continued for four hundred years. More than two-thirds of the Massarenti paintings had wrong attributions. The catalogue was prepared to sell the paintings. Massarenti's attitude was cavalier. A misattributed painting by Pontormo was a genuinely important painting, (in other words, mistakes could cut two ways). Henry Walters, by reputation, was the wealthiest man in the South. Walters's purchase of the collection satisfied his search for adventure in the cultural field. The contract for sale was signed in 1902. After the Massarenti Collection was received in the U.S. its quality was questioned by THE NATION. Walters did not seek the services of Berenson or Roger Fry to authenticate the collection.

The Walters Art Gallery opened in 1909. After the praise subsided, critics complained that Walters failed to organize the collection. Bernard Berenson sold thirty-six painting to Walters. Berenson's attributions for twenty-two of them have not withstood the test of time. Berenson made a bargain to become a partner with Joseph Duveen in 1912. Berenson was to give Duveen right of first refusal. The association of Berenson and Duveen lasted for thirty years In 1912 Walters discontinued his annual contract with Berenson. After an analysis by Berenson of the Walters holdings in 1914, Walters sought to remove the doubtful paintings Berenson identified and replace them with others. One hundred thirty-seven paintings were removed. Attributions were changed for many of the remaining paintings. During World War I the art market was stagnant. In 1917 Walters informed Berenson their obligations to each other were nil. Berenson had forfeited Walters's trust. Walters died in 1931.

The book ends with appendices, letters, lists of paintings, notes, and a bibliography. It seems that Walters destroyed all documents related to his dealings with Berenson and the author had to undertake a major work of reconstruction to tell this tale. It is excellent, engrossing.

I've always enjoyed reading the stories of people who have collected paintings and those who have thrived with their art collections. As a person on the other side who admires those who can purchase various pieces of artwork and paintings, it was quite interesting to read "Henry Walters and Bernard Berenson" by Stanley Mazaroff.

Mazaroff happens to be a member of the Board of Trustees for the Walters Art Museum and his book is based on the correspondence between the collector Henry Walters and the man who would authenticate the pieces for Walters, Bernard Berenson. These documents were recently discovered at the art museum and the Villa I Tatti, so I'm grateful to Mazaroff for sharing these documents.

During the 19th Century and 20th Century, a good number of the wealthy took part in collection Italian Renaissance paintings but the problem was the uncertainty of who was the artists who painted them and most of all, were they originals. Bernard Berenson was the era's preeminent connoisseur of Italian Renaissance paintings who is credited with guiding the collections of Isabella Stewart Gardner and Peter Widener and many put their belief that Berenson knew what he was doing. He was the best of the best when it came to connoisseurs of Italian Renaissance paintings.

It was a cutthroat business back then and connoisseurs were known to discredit the attributions of others. Berenson was quite knowledgeable in the field but no one dared contradict him on his attributions but we learn that even Berenson was wrong at times. Walters spent a great deal of money depending on Berenson's attributions. Mazaroff points out that there were few great paintings that Berenson had selected but his greatest contribution "was not primarily by addition by but by a refined process of subtraction".

A very delightful and insightful read to art collecting and the business of art connoisseurs but also for those who also want to gain insight of the man behind the Walters Art Museum.

What are you going to do when you retire? When Mazaroff retired from the practice of law, he went to Johns Hopkins to study art history, wrote and article about Henry Walters' acquisition of the Massarenti Collection of Renaissance art, which became the foundation of Baltimore's Walters Art Museum, and conducted research at I Tatti, Berenson's villa in the Tuscan hills, reading a "treasure trove" of documents illuminating the relationship between Walters and Berenson. Then he wrote this book. So much better than golf!

Henry Walters was the son of William T. Walters, banker and railway magnate, and inherited from him, in addition to wealth and business acumen, a passion for collecting art in the service of the public. Whereas the elder Walters concentrated on contemporary American and European art, his son, like many other Gilded Age millionaires, was particularly drawn to art of the Italian Renaissance.

And you couldn't be a collector of Italian Renaissance art at that time without crossing paths with Bernard Berenson. Berenson was a most intriguing character, a self-made connoisseur and art expert, whose opinion was pretty much the final word on a work of art. If he said your painting was by Titian, it was, and if he said it wasn't, well,you sheepishly put it away. If in Casablanca everyone went to Rick's, in the world of late 19th and early 20th-century art collecting, everybody went to I Tatti.

When Walters bought, basically sight unseen, the collection of Don Marcello Massarenti, he knew that the attributions were likely not all accurate. He was buying the whole to get some of its parts, and he hired Berenson to vet the collection, write a catalog, and help him acquire additional works.

The relationship between the two was fraught. Walters was oddly uninterested in seeing his own collection, much of it remaining in its shipping crates for months. Berenson had lots of other fish to fry in addition to his work for Walters, When financial constraints began to limit Walters' buying, Berenson did something which damaged the relationship beyond repair.

Dealer Joseph Duveen was known in the art world to be unscrupulous. Walters disliked him, as did Berenson. Nevertheless, driven by the need and desire to be on a firm financial footing, in 1912 Berenson entered into an agreement with him, under which Duveen had the right of first refusal of any "first class Italian paintings" Berenson found, and Berenson would provide him with an appraisal and certificates of authenticity. This, in and of itself, is not so bad. But the agreement further provided that Berenson would get a 25% commission on any sales Duveen made of the paintings that Berenson found for him, and, on top of this, Berenson's identity was concealed under the use of a fictitious name. The conflict of interest is obvious.

We know now that Berenson's attributions, of Walters' acquisitions as well as those of other clients, were not always accurate. Many people have assumed that seemingly inflated attributions of Berenson's were due to venality, but Mazaroff makes the case that they were simply due to the manner in which attributions were made. Artists of the Italian Renaissance did not always sign their names. Contemporary copies, by the artists themselves, their assistants, and others, were common. What is known about an artist changes and affects attributions. Today, cconservators and appraisers have an arsenal of technical tools to assist them, chemical analysis of paints, X-rays to find underpaintings, etc. Berenson had his experience and his eye. It is noteworthy that his attributions wer not challenged at the time, despite the competition amongst collectors and dealers. And Mazaroff points out that the extent of Berenson's misattributions did not differ from that of other experts.

Altogether, this is an instructive book about art collecting and connoisseurship in the Gilded Age, and a fasinating account of the relationship between two men, each powerful in his own field.

The renowned art expert Bernard Berenson became associated with the Baltimore Gilded Age magnate Henry Walters--president of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad--by offering to analyze a collection of 1700 works of Classical and Renaissance art Walters had recently purchased from an Italian collector for a museum he was establishing in his home town of Baltimore. With the Renaissance practice of copying originals by masters such as Raphael and Michaelangelo, Walters could not be sure certain paintings he had purchased were originals by the masters. Verification of originals by Berenson along with a catalog he would do would give greater credence and interest to Walter's incomparable collection which the New York Times had already declared rivaled the best in the world. Berenson offered his expertise for no fee with the aim of increasing his reputation among world-class dealers, collectors, and museums.

As Mazaroff shows by the more than 60 or so letters between Berenson and Walters making up the main of his research for this book on this relatively limited yet illuminating topic, the two developed a cordial and mutually respectful relationship. But eventually Berenson's outsized, almost superhuman ambitions and involvement in the high-level, high-stakes European art market supplying prized works to the upper crust of America's museums and collectors got the better of him. Berenson entered into a secret arrangement with a major, controversial dealer named Joseph Duveen whereby Berenson would make available to him the top art works he gained control over for Duveen to offer first to his clients.

Although Walters was not aware of the specifics of Berenson's relationship with Duveen, its effects took a toll on his relationship with Berenson in Berenson's attentions to other art projects and collectors, his slowness in follow-up work on the Walter's collection after an initial general appraisal, and procrastination and eventual foregoing of the catalog toward the end of their four-year relationship. From Walter's side, he was not always attentive to the collection, did not do much to get it on display and build upon it, and seemed indifferent to outstanding works Berenson did get for him.

The relationship was not in vain for either partner, but eventually for complex reasons having to do with finances, changes in the art market, and divergence of interests, it ended with Walters formally reporting to Berenson that "our money obligations to each other are nil" (Walter's letter) and he did not "envision the resumption of their commercial relationship" (Mazaroff's words). The planned museum became more of a storehouse for Walter's art work than a public showcase for them.

Mazaroff's book is more than a tale of this ultimately disappointing, yet nonetheless fruitful relationship between the two exceptional and influential figures in the Gilded Age art market. For their relationship and dealings with each other casts a light into the heady, high-stakes international art commerce of the latter 1800s/early 1900s when the foundations of the great cultural institutions of the major art museums were being laid down.

Henry Walters and Bernard Berenson: Collector and Connoisseur, is an extraordinarily well researched, well written and extremely interesting book written by Stanley Mazaroff who is also recognized as an attorney specializing in Employment Law. As I read this book, I reflected upon fiction and film which deals with the subject of fraudulent or misrepresented art or artists. The story of the relationship between Walters and Berenson has intrigue like one would find in a contemporary setting, but the Italian Renaissance history gives this story its own twists and turns. I was conscious of the legal style of writing by the author -- deliberate and efficient words successfully conveyed the information and propelled the story. The documentation is incredible, images are helpful, correspondence between Walters and Berenson was curious. It's time now for a return trip to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.


I intend to give a visit to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and a new copy of this book to a new Art History graduate who wonders about her professional future.

This book is perfect for art history and business enthusiasts. This book is about the professional relationship between two men, Henry Walters (connossieur), and Bernard Berenson (art dealer). The author is a retired lawyer who brings plenty of interest and research into studying the relationship between Walters & Berenson. Don't expect gossip or secret romances involved here! This book is a serious retrospect about two very important people in the art world at a crucial time.

Berenson had lived most of his life in a beautiful estate in Italy where he would have access and socialize with the likes of Edith Wharton and other ex-patriates who were in Italy during that time. Henry Walters had bought plenty of art pieces through Berenson enough to have his own museum but he was more of a recluse than Berenson. Their personalities would clash at times and it was an often uneasy friendship.

This book is not really for those who are art beginners. This book is geared for art historians, enthusiasts, and art business people. Berenson and Walters were both major and important leaders in the art world in collecting Italian art which might have been lost forever if they had not sought them out.

Stanley Mazaroff examines an era in art history that could only have happened in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His account is meticulously documented as he describes the men who purchased, authenticated, argued and entertained each other while accumulating a staggering number of Italian paintings of the early, classical and later renaissance.

Collecting was challenging at the turn of the twentieth century. Much of the risk involved the difficulty in making accurate attributions of paintings after centuries of claims, counter-claims, myths and scams. In an era that lacked scientific instrumentation to accurately date paintings or detect overpainting, art historians such as Mr. Berenson had to teach themselves about art and artists by long study of the paintings themselves, a process which Berenson readily admitted was a life-long process.

Walters, on the other hand, did not take much pleasure in his acquisitions, and did not spend much time (if any at all) looking at them. His reason for collecting was born in the nineteenth century,and is one he carried around with him throughout his life, continuing to purchase paintings in large numbers long after he had an clear vision of what he wanted the outcome to be.

This book is not a casual read; it has several appendices containing documentation, correspondence, and photos of many of the paintings themselves. The reward, though, is a look at a time in U.S. history when successful men dreamed of projects bigger than themselves and spend a lifetime fulfilling those projects. It is also an exploration of the relationship between two successful men, each of which had his own agenda and played by his own rules.