Correspondence with Bernard Berenson, 1952-1960.

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Correspondence with Bernard Berenson, 1952-1960.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/78114455

Ethel Le Vane met Bernard Berenson when she accompanied J. Paul Getty to I Tatti in the course of collaborating with him on Collector's Choice (London 1955) and generally assisting him in art acquisitions. The collection consists of handwritten and typewritten letters recording the romance that ensued between the 87-year-old Berenson and the middle-aged Le Vane, who address each other as "Mountain Goat" and "Kitten." These love letters also offer a behind-the-scenes view of how Getty's art collection was assembled, and the role Berenson played as authenticator, largely through Le Vane's interventions. A number of letters detail Getty's "pathology" from Le Vane's point of view, especially after the book's publication, when she finds Getty's recompense inadequate. After 1956, Berenson's secretary Nicky Mariano increasingly takes on the role of responding to Le Vane's missives.

ca. 100 items (1 box).

Getty Research Institute

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8211121

Getty Research Institute

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tz45t8 (person)

Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book Drawings of the Florentine Painters was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large hand in some of the writings. Berenson was a major figure in the attribution of Old Masters, at a time when these were attracting new interest by American collectors, and his judgments were widely respected in the art world. Recent research has cast doubt on some...

Mariano, Nicky

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h422k2 (person)

Getty, J. Paul (Jean Paul), 1892-1976

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x355m8 (person)

American oil tycoon and art collector Jean Paul Getty was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on December 15, 1892 to George Franklin Getty (1855-1930) and Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher Getty. Around 1906 the Getty family moved to Los Angeles. J. Paul Getty eventually persuaded his father to shift the focus of the family petroleum business to the Los Angeles basin. Beginning in the early 1930s Getty lived in a house he built next to William Randolph Hearst's on the beach in Santa Monica. During Wo...

Le Vane, Ethel

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cj8pfw (person)

Art advisor and literary collaborator. From the description of Correspondence with Bernard Berenson, 1952-1960. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 78114455 ...