Page 48 - Studio International - January 1965

Richard Brown Baker

1 U.S. collectors of modern art-1 by Kenneth B. Sawyer

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A scant century ago the American collector. like the
Argentine millionaire. was a cherished figure of fun.
No vaudeville turn was complete without him. no genre
comedy could resist the magnet of his presence. If
on occasion he turned ugly-his turpitudes usually
amounted to Havana cigars. a taste for alien vices
(champagne). and poor-but-honest maidens (he
wished to marry them. but only for their beauty!)­
it was to be foiled by a bumpkin: some horny-handed
fellow innocent of foreign fancies. Despite his gold. his
lot was not an easy one. To those whose birthright was
embedded neath the stones of Europe. culture (what­
ever is wrought by man and inheritable by man) was
a comforting word and concept. On the western slopes
of the Atlantic. we held both word and concept more
gingerly.
Conversely. the collector might be a Mephistophelean.
presence. felt rather than seen in the shadows of society.
Protected by the ramparts of his wealth. he acquired
art as he acquired money-systematically, unsenti­
mentally, and ruthlessly. Like his box at the opera or
his name on a charitable subscription. art was a mani­
festation and symbol of his affluence and power.
Generally by means of agents. acting independently
and anonymously. English libraries. French chateaux.
Spanish cloisters, and painting, statuary, and bric-a­
brac from everywhere entered his domain. Like Jourdan.
he was sans gene. he was innocent; a gentleman as
the sum of his possessions: I own. therefore I am.
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