America and the art of Flanders: collecting paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and their circles

Abstract

"A collection of essays by twelve scholars and museum curators examining the allure of Flemish painting to Americans over the past centuries, chronicling the roles played by determined individuals in forming private and public collections"--

Contents

Introduction : pleasure and prestige : the complex history of collecting Flemish art in America / Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. -- Before modern connoisseurship : Robert Gilmor, Jr.'s, quest for Flemish paintings in the Early Republic / Lance Humphries -- Collecting the art of Flanders in antebellum New York / Margaret R. Laster -- The American Van Dyck / Adam Eaker -- A family affair : Bruegel and sons in America / Louisa Wood Ruby -- In search of major masters : Boston's history of collecting Flemish baroque painting / Ronni Baer -- "Never a dull picture" : John Graver Johnson collects Flemish art / Esmée Quodbach -- Creating an acquired taste for Flemish paintings : the advice of W.R. Valentiner and others / Dennis P. Weller -- Collecting seventeenth-century Flemish paintings in the Midwest / George S. Keyes -- From personal treasures to public gifts : the Flemish painting collection at the National Gallery of Art / Alexandra Libby -- Collecting Rubens in America / Marjorie E. Wieseman -- "It is a great painting for a museum" : collecting Flemish paintings in southern California / Anne T. Woollett.