Bernard Berenson ( Vilnius , 26 of June of 1865 – Florence , 6 of October of 1959 ) was an art expert, art critic and historian of American art of Lithuanian origin. His art studies and contacts with American high society made him wealthy by making the Renaissance fashionable on the art market and by authenticating numerous works.
Summary
[ hide ]
- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 Studies
- 2 Works and recognition
- 3 Death
- 2 Sources
Biographical synthesis
At the age of ten, he expanded with his family to the city of Boston (United States).
Studies
He studied at Harvard and later settled in Italy , where he devoted himself to studying in depth the art of the country.
In 1900 he married and settled in Settignano, near the city of Florence , in Villa I Tatti.
Works and recognition
His first book, Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1894), was followed by others on painters from Florence and northern and central Italy. Around 1906, he became an advisor to the English dealer Lord Joseph Duveen. He was one of the first to recognize artists like Pierre Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne .
In addition to numerous writings on art, he also published Notes for a Self-Portrait (1949) and Rumor and Reflection (1952). Sunrise and sunset , a selection from his diaries (1947-1958), appeared in (1963).
Death
He died on 6 as October as 1959 , at age 94.
He bequeathed his mansion, Villa I Tatti, to Harvard University (Boston) to create a center for artistic research.