Works Of Henri Matisse

A Tale Of Two Sisters And Their Serious Eye For Art

Though many people consider themselves collectors — whether it's postcards or books or stamps — there are few collections that rival the acquisitions of Claribel and Etta Cone. The Cone sisters, natives of Baltimore, were collectors of some of the greatest and most innovative art of their time. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, they acquired 3,000 pieces, including the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of works by Henri Matisse.

A sampling of their impressive collection is now on display at the Jewish Museum in New York. The exhibit, Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore , features more than 50 pieces of art on loan from the Baltimore Museum of Art, where the sisters bequeathed the entirety of their collection.

Karen Levitov, associate curator at the Jewish Museum in New York, and Katy Rothkopf, senior curator at the Baltimore Museum of Art, recently joined NPR's Susan Stamberg to talk about the sisters and their remarkable collection.

Like their collection, the Cone sisters were extraordinary for their time. The eldest, Claribel, was one of the country's first female doctors, says Rothkopf. Etta — a woman who was known for her warmth and generosity — was responsible for beginning their collection and contributing the majority of its pieces.

When Etta made the sisters' first art purchases in 1898, the pair never intended to give the collection to a museum. Rothkopf says the sisters originally began their collection for simply aesthetic reasons, "Early on, I think it was to decorate their apartments," she says.

But what began as ornamentation quickly became a passion. The sisters' interest in art grew after they met Gertrude and Leo Stein, who were studying at Johns Hopkins University in the 1890s.The pair of brothers and sisters became friends and began to travel together. In fact, it was then that the sisters were in Paris with the Steins in 1905 that their first meeting of the work of Henri Matisse at the Salon d'Automne.

At the time, the use of vibrant color of Matisse and artificial created a stir in the world of art, says Rothkopf. Many people, including the Cone sisters, were shocked by his unorthodox style. "At first, the cones ... really found [art] pretty scary, "she said.

But after the Steins began buying his works, the Cone sisters visited Matisse's studio and warmed to his artistic style. It helped that Matisse was a "proper" gentleman, and the Cones found that they could relate to him, Rothkopf explains. "He was their kind of people. They liked him, and so his paintings and drawings and sculptures started to appeal more." Soon they were regularly buying Matisse's art.

SundayArts News 7/3/2011 | Sunday Arts | THIRTEEN

Currently on view at the Jewish Museum is “ Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore .” The exhibition tells the remarkable story of the two Jewish sisters, Claribel and Etta Cone, who amassed thousands of works of modern art by artists ranging from Paul Gauguin to Vincent Van Gogh. A close friendship with Gertrude Stein, which began in the German-Jewish social circles of Baltimore, led to connections to artists in Europe. The Cone sisters began collecting drawings by Pablo Picasso when he was virtually unknown, and early works by Henri Matisse when he was still disparaged as one of the “wild beasts” of the Fauve movement. On view here are paintings by Matisse that the Cone sisters avidly collected in the 1920s. Following her sister Claribel’s death in 1929, Etta continued to add to the collection, acquiring major works of sculpture as well as Matisse’s “Large Reclining Nude” — all which eventually became part of the Baltimore Museum of Art’s extensive Cone collection. “Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore” remains on view at the Jewish Museum until September 25.

Lincoln Center Festival New Yorkers returning from the July 4th holiday weekend will be welcomed back with a slate of world-class premieres at the Lincoln Center Festival . This year’s festival opens on July 5th with the U.S premiere of “A Magic Flute,” Peter Brook’s stripped down and intimate interpretation of Mozart’s masterpiece. At the Met Opera House, the Mariinsky Ballet, formerly known as the Kirov, returns to the festival for 8 performances. Highlights include the U.S. premieres of “Anna Karenina” and “The Little-Humpbacked Horse,” evening-length ballets by critically acclaimed choreographer Alexei Ratmanksy. And at the Park Avenue Armory, in a specially constructed replica of the theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Royal Shakespeare Company will present 44 performances of five Shakespeare plays. Over the summer, audiences can choose from among over 100 additional performances by ensembles and artists from some 20 countries.

Dance at River to River Festival Downtown, at the World Financial Center, the River to River Festival presents “ Extraordinary Moves ,” a celebration of dance through film, art and movement. The festival is anchored by “The Dancer Films” -– a series of short films produced by Ellen and Judy Dennis. The dances are choreographed by Susan Marshall and Larry Keigwin and are inspired by the whimsical cartoons of Jules Feiffer. The films, directed by Judy Dennis, feature Big Apple landmarks like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Broolyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Bridge in a celebration of dance and the city. A selection of Feiffer’s cartoons, which ran for 40 years in the Village Voice, will also be on view at the Courtyard Gallery of the World Financial Center. Feiffer himself will create new dancer drawings at a “dance-in” on July 10th. Additional live events include acrobats in a work inspired by the dancing waters of the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas and dancers atop 13-foot poles.

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