The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America

"Louisine and H. O. Havemeyer were among the premier art collectors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Today, museums across America sparkle with Impressionist paintings, works by Rembrandt, Goya, and El Greco, Japanese artifacts, and more, all of which were originally owned by the Havemeyers. This first biography of the famous couple reveals the birth of their collections--Louisine brought home from Paris the first Degas and Monet paintings to reach the United States--and tells of their life in a sumptuous Fifth Avenue mansion decorated by Louis Comfort Tiffany and filled with a staggering assemblage of art. Here too, enlivened by more than 100 family photographs, is the Havemeyer's personal story, including the scandals provoked by Harry's Sugar Trust and Louisine's militant suffragism. Lively and authoritative, this book is a fascinating chronicle of wealth and taste in a bygone age. And the great collection itself, here represented by 167 superb reproductions, 64 in full color, offers stunning evidence of the Havemeyers' lasting achievement."--Publisher description… (more)