Evolution of Taste in American Collecting

René Brimo (1911–1948) was an antiquarian dealer and a graduate of the École du Louvre, as well as a recipient of master’s degrees from Harvard and the Sorbonne and a docteur ès lettres from the University of Paris.Kenneth Haltman is H. Russell Pitman Professor of Art History at the University of Oklahoma and the author of many books, including Looking Close and Seeing Far: Samuel Seymour, Titian Ramsay Peale, and the Art of the Long Expedition, 1818–1823, also published by Penn State University Press, and critical translations from the French, notably of works by Gaston Bachelard.

“Kenneth Haltman’s edition makes the book available in English and also provides a rich biographical and intellectual context for Brimo’s work, a most timely contribution to an emerging discipline of art market studies.”—Julie Codell Journal of the History of Collections

• ContentsList of Illustrations viiAcknowledgments ixMaking Sense of an Unusual Contribution to Art History 1Notes 67Kenneth HaltmanThe Evolution of Taste in American Collecting 85René BrimoPreface 87Introduction 89Book 1:Early Developments: From the Colonial Period to thePhiladelphia CentennialPart 1: Colonial AmericaLooking Backward 96Part 2: Science or Sentiment[Historical Introduction, 1776–1840] 1071 Encyclopedic Spirit 1112 The Search for a National Style 121Part 3: The Critical Era[Historical Introduction, 1840–1876] 1311 TheTaste for Anecdote and Realism 1352 The Discovery of History 151Book 2:The Triumph of Quality: Major Collections from the Philadelphia Centennial to the Great War[Historical Introduction, 1876–1919] 1661 Eclecticism 1712 The Notion of the “Old Master” 1953 The Vogue for Archaeology and “Pre-History” 2264 Staying in Touch with the Contemporary Scene 2555 The Modern Art Museum 272Conclusion 294Notes 301Bibliography 344Index