Fall art history: grand dames, masterpiece collections, lasting legacies

From staff reports

In 1875, Mary Cassatt took 19-year-old Louisine Waldron Elder, who was visiting with her family from the United States, to see the much talked about paintings by a group of avant-garde French artists — later to be known to the world as the Impressionists. When they saw the work of Edgar Degas, the world tilted for each woman. Cassatt found her muse. Louisine found her calling.

In 1883, Louisine married “the sugar king” Henry O. Havemeyer and together they amassed a stellar art collection of old masters and nineteenth century paintings. Two thousand works would eventually be donated and bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Join museum educator Linda Young, as she explores the fascinating lives of three American heiresses: Isabella Stewart Gardner, Bertha Honoré Palmer and Louisine Elder Havemeyer. Her talk will highlight the world of these Gilded Age collectors, the artists they befriended, and the paintings and sculptures they pursued.

The class will be held at the Glen Arbor Art Association, on Wednesday, Oct. 7 from 3-4:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required, $20. Class is limited to 30.

For more information and to register, visit GlenArborArt.org or call 231-334-6112.

Coming in November:

The New Collectors: Modern Women, Modern Art, Modern Museums

Wednesday, Nov. 4, from 2-3:30 p.m.

In 1913, the Armory Show introduced Avant garde art to a mostly unsuspecting public. The works were panned and banned. A new breed of women patrons, however, embraced this new direction in art and began collecting in earnest. The American public would become the benefactors of their collections.