An Illuminated Life: Bella da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege [Hardcover]

Heidi Ardizzone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 2007

The secret life of the sensational woman behind the Morgan masterpieces, who lit up New York society.

What would you give up to achieve your dream? When J. P. Morgan hired Belle da Costa Greene in 1905 to organize his rare book and manuscript collection, she had only her personality and a few years of experience to recommend her. Ten years later, she had shaped the famous Pierpont Morgan Library collection and was a proto-celebrity in New York and the art world, renowned for her self-made expertise, her acerbic wit, and her flirtatious relationships. Born to a family of free people of color, Greene changed her name and invented a Portuguese grandmother to enter white society. In her new world, she dined both at the tables of the highest society and with bohemian artists and activists. She also engaged in a decades-long affair with art critic Bernard Berenson. Greene is pure fascination—the buyer of illuminated manuscripts who attracted others to her like moths to a flame.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ardizzone's competent, complimentary biography explains the complicated, glamorous woman who transcended her lack of formal higher education and obfuscated her race to become head of the Pierpont Morgan Library and confidante of the financial mogul who founded it. Belle Green (1879–1950), the daughter of a civil rights activist who was the first African-American man to graduate from Harvard College, was plucked by J.P. Morgan's nephew Junius Morgan from the Princeton Library in 1905, where she had developed a passion for the rare pre–15th-century illuminated manuscripts that were to become the basis of her work for Morgan. Greene became a key player in major acquisitions, such as 16 Caxtons from Lord Amherst's collection. She famously lived at full throttle, speaking her mind and taking many lovers, notably married art scholar Bernard Berenson. Morgan's death left her with a sizable inheritance, and she continued at his library. Although Ardizzone delineates the intricacies of major art transactions, she devotes more space to the copious details of Greene's flamboyant personal life than to assessments of the Morgan treasures that were her legacy. Still, Ardizzone (coauthor, Love on Trial) showcases the impressive talents of a woman who once wielded enormous power in New York society. (June)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* In 1905, Greene, a young woman in her twenties, was hired by J. P. Morgan to organize his immense collection of rare books and manuscripts. The incredible opportunity was one more reason for Greene to continue the fiction of her exotic background with a Portuguese grandmother and conceal her true racial heritage as African American. Her lineage was quite remarkable—her father was the first black man to graduate from Harvard—but Greene understood the limitations that black blood presented and took full advantage of her appearance, intelligence, vivacity, and drive to create a dazzling life among the wealthy. Greene socialized with the rich and famous and conducted affairs with well-placed men, including art critic Bernard Berenson. Known for her beauty and charm, she coyly dodged questions of her ancestry as she cleverly navigated the art world and its "intricate web of secrets and gossip and deals." Her influence with the irascible Morgan extended beyond his library—which amassed an extensive collection of illuminated manuscripts—as she acted as purchasing agent, confidante, and friend. Ardizzone offers a rich and fabulous look at an amazing woman determined to live beyond the limitations assigned by race and sex in her time. Bush, Vanessa

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 514 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st ed edition (June 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393051048
• ISBN-13: 978-0393051049
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #379,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, an authoratitive scholarly biography of the fascinating woman at the nexus of art history & identity politics, July 19, 2008

By 

Joshua G. Feldman "Technophile" (New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Illuminated Life: Bella da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege (Hardcover)

Serious bibliophiles know that J.P. Morgan's Library (The Morgan Library & Museum is its current name) is the holy shrine of book collecting - the greatest archive of rare books, historical and literary original manuscripts, exquisite medieval illuminated manuscripts, music manuscripts, fine art drawings, ancient seals, etc... in the Western Hemisphere - and perhaps the world. Belle da Costa Greene, as one of the primary forces in molding the collection, and the institution's first director, would be worthy of note for that role alone. But Belle is far more. She was a brilliant art historian, whose tastes and scholarship made a real impact on bibliography and art criticism. She was also a coquettish beauty and epic flirt, whose long and literary infatuations (particularly the torrid one with the titanic art critic Bernard Berenson) are worthy of note. She's also worthy of note as a pioneering independent woman in a field dominated by men. Ultimately, however, it's her ambiguous and troubling racial identity for which she is best known.

The fact is that Belle Greene's father, Richard Greener, was the first African American graduate of Harvard University. Greener had a distinguished but troubled career as a civil rights leader - ending up estranged from his family and serving as a diplomat in Vladivostok. Belle's mother took the family across the racial line in Belle's late childhood and they all passed as white. So Belle was raised as a black in her early childhood and as a white in her late childhood. She attended Amherst and Princeton as a white (obviously, since Princeton wouldn't have a black graduate until 1951). She worked very closely with J.P. Morgan and Jack Morgan, his son, - men of very traditional racial and ethnic biases. (Jack Morgan famously wouldn't meet with Joe Kennedy (JFK's father, and director of the NY Stock Exchange at the time) because he was Irish). Jack Morgan - CEO of the Morgan empire through its period of greatest power - had even more conservative views than his father. Belle traversed the world of high society, constantly attending the cultural events, parties, and dinners of the NY elite 400. How she reconciled race, power, prestige, and her own identity is a fascinating subject. Heidi Ardizzone treats the subject with admirable finesse - particularly her lovely postmodern racial sensibility that the label of "blackness" was prejudicial and punitive - that the notion of "passing" is limited and obsolete. No one should be quick to judge Belle for her actions, given that the question of which of her roughly equal mix of white and black ancestries should take precedence is a racist question to begin with. The issue of dishonor in not acknowledging race is complicated by the amoral quality of wrongful discrimination in the categorizing of race to begin with.

Belle is a tough subject for a biography because she burned all her papers near the end of her life - a romantic and extravagant gesture for a romantic and extravagant woman. Ardizzone pulls a rabbit out of hat in creating a detailed biography by sheer grit and determination. She has combed all the archives of those who conversed with Belle (at a time when everyone was prolific letter writers and the letters of important people were often saved). Bernard Berenson's archives contained 400 of Belle's letters - but Ardizzone went far further. She takes historical sources of all kinds from the places she knew Belle was to reconstruct parts of Belle's life for which there are no primary sources. The end result has pockets of speculation, but a remarkable wealth of detail. The whole thing is rigorously end-noted. I'll confess that sometimes I found it had too much detail slowing the narrative pace - but Belles amazing life makes the bit of persistence necessary worth the (sometimes) effort. Ardizzone isn't too dry. I love the moment where she punctuates a combative exchange between powerful women with the decidedly un-academic narrative flourish "Meow"! Ultimately, it's easy to recommend this book to anyone with a taste for biography and an interest in art history, The Morgan, or identity politics.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary, gripping memoir, August 8, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Illuminated Life: Bella da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege (Hardcover)

In 1911 one Bella da Costa Greene made New York newspaper headlines by buying a book from one of Britain's finest printers, succeeding at a high-profile auction which allowed her to walk away with the book for half of what her employer had authorized her to pay, despite aggressive bidding. She would spend some forty years at her employer's resulting library and become its first director - but the real story of her achievement, which includes her African-American heritage, lack of formal art education, and bohemian lifestyle, remained hidden until now. AN ILLUMINATED LIFE charts her rise to culture and prosperity and provides an extraordinary, gripping memoir of an amazing woman which is perfect for any general interest library strong in biographical memoirs, art history, or even Afro-American notable figures.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars illuminating but revisionist, December 8, 2010

By 

DeDe (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Illuminated Life: Bella da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege (Hardcover)

The author wins points for being the first to tackle the enigma that was Belle Greene but where she falls short is in her attempts to revise history. The first few chapters are painful because the author chooses to insert her own ideas, which are offensive at times, 'colored' by her own ancestry and views about race. That would be fine if she was writing a book about herself or that indicated it was about her too but it doesn't. When she focuses on Belle and her life it's a good read, when she inserts her speculative opinion it's a laborous read.

Belle Greene's life was tainted by the author's views on "passing" and other subjective opinions that are indirectly pushed through. A biographer's voice should complement the life of their subject not detract from it with their own subjective views. The objective is to illuminate Belle, not the author. Belle "passed" as white because in her time, that's what it was considered. It was not okay to claim to be white when you were mixed with even a drop of black, which is why the family discussed changing their names and identities so that they could "pass."

To redress the term "passing" by saying she was "living as white" because now it is okay to do so is irresponsible and disrespectful to American history. My advice: if you don't have enough to write without adding illogical speculative fodder then leave it to others. People who "identify" as white don't need to execute a plan to live as white, they just do it. Clearly the family did not identify as white but considered it necessary to their survival. The author points this out, saying that as a black woman Belle's mother would have had a difficult time financially supporting a family without their father's help but then goes on to say she doesn't know whether they identified as white, and justifies substituting "living as white" for "passing," a complete betrayal of logic. Futhermore, being raised by a man who was the first black graduate of Harvard, taught at Howard when it was a black college, and championed himself as a leader of the race practically guarantees they identified - even if slightly - with their African-American roots.