Art Goes America
Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung Nr. 155
32 Pages Posted: 28 Apr 2008
Date Written: April 2008
Abstract
This paper interprets the "buying craze" among American tycoons between 1870 and the Second World War concerning mainly Renaissance art, particularly paintings, thereby concentrating on the process of this transfer rather than on the art works and the resulting collections. It analyzes the role of the House of Duveen, the art expert Bernard Berenson and other agents that acted as dominant intermediaries instrumental to the American Renaissance in fine art. The outcomes of their efforts were outstanding private collections and eminent art museums. On the other hand, truly American art was crowded out, slowing down its further development for quite some time.
Keywords: American Renaissance, Art drain, Duveen prices, American collectors, European Art, Golden Age of Giving
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