Synopses & Reviews
The book is a fresh investigation of American collecting between 1900 and 1914 and of the impact of transatlantic displacements and mass media on the public perception of old master paintings. Rather than a consideration of the itineraries of their acquisitions, this is an analysis of the political, cultural and social implication of the phenomenon and how it functioned within American society and in relation to Europe. The first three chapters of the book analyse how the American press (The New York Times, The Nation, Century, Scribner's, McClure's and the World's Work) exploited the phenomenon, turning it into a journalistic genre in which the rhetoric of nationalism and civilisation, as well as that of business and speculation, provided the style of the narrative. Two aspects of the press coverage are thoroughly investigated: the collectors' and experts' public role. Chapters four to six are devoted to a case study of an unknown, but extraordinary publishing venture, Noteworthy Paintings in
Synopsis
An investigation of American collecting between 1900 and 1914, this book details the impact of transatlantic displacements and mass media on the public's perception of old master paintings. This is an analysis of the political, cultural, and social implications of the phenomenon and how it functioned within American society and in relation to Europe. Retrieved is the New York milieu of journalists, political commentators, and "tastemasters" who constructed a journalistic genre, a means of collective identification, and an instrument of personal strategy around the arrival of old master paintings in America. These actors rapidly and effectively turned the acquisition of old masters into a national cultural act, which this text places in a larger narrative that involves issues of national identity and cultural definition.
About the Author
Flaminia Gennari Santori holds degrees in the history of art from the University of Rome and the European University Institute, where she earned a Ph.D. in 2002. She is currently Research Projects Coordinator at the Olivetti Foundation in Rome.