Walter Conrad Arensberg (April 4, 1878 – January 29, 1954) was an American art collector, critic and poet. His father was part owner and president of a
crucible steel
Crucible steel is steel made by melting pig iron (cast iron), iron, and sometimes steel, often along with sand, glass, ashes, and other fluxes, in a crucible. In ancient times steel and iron were impossible to melt using charcoal or coal fires ...
company. He majored in English and philosophy at Harvard University. With his wife Louise (born as Mary Louise Stevens; 1879–1953), he collected art and supported artistic endeavors.
Early life and career
Walter Arensberg was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the oldest child of Conrad Christian Arensberg and his second wife, Flora Belle Covert. Walter's father was President and partial owner of a successful Pittsburgh crucible steel company. Between 1896 and 1900, Walter attended
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. Following graduation, he traveled to Europe, where he spent at least two years. In 1903, he returned to Harvard, as a graduate student. He did not complete his degree, but rather moved to New York City to work as a cub reporter from 1904-1906.
Arensberg's first major book, ''The Cryptography of Dante'' (1921) was greeted as a literary scandal because of its deeply Freudian interpretation of the text. A full-page review appeared in ''The New York Evening Journal'' with the title "A Shocking Attack on Dante's immortal 'Inferno'." This book was followed by ''The Cryptography of Shakespeare'' (1922), which finds
acrostics and
anagrams in the published works of Shakespeare that reveal the embedded name of Francis Bacon. In ''The secret grave of Francis Bacon and his mother in the
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...
chapter house'' (1923) and ''The Shakespearean mystery'' (1928) he used a "key cipher" to find further messages connected with the Rosicrucians. Analysis by
William Friedman
William Frederick Friedman (September 24, 1891 – November 12, 1969) was a US Army cryptographer who ran the research division of the Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1930s, and parts of its follow-on services into the 1950s. I ...
and
Elizebeth Friedman
Elizebeth Smith Friedman (August 26, 1892 – October 31, 1980) was an American cryptanalyst and author who deciphered enemy codes in both World Wars and helped to solve international smuggling cases during Prohibition. Over the course of her ...
shows that none of the methods has
cryptographic validity.
Several volumes of his Symbolist-influenced verse were also published, including 1914's ''Poems'' and 1916's ''Idols''. His poem ''Voyage a l'Infini'' was anthologized by
Edmund Clarence Stedman
Edmund Clarence Stedman (October 8, 1833January 18, 1908) was an American poet, critic, essayist, banker, and scientist.
Early life
Edmund Clarence Stedman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 8, 1833; his father, Major Edmund B ...
. His far more adventurous, avant-garde poetry appeared in Dada magazines between 1917 and 1919: ''Rogue'', ''The Blind Man'', ''391'', ''TNT''.
Art collector
Between 1913 and 1950 the couple collected the works of Modern artists such as
Jean Metzinger
Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
,
Marcel Duchamp
Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
,
Charles Sheeler,
Walter Pach, and
Beatrice Wood
Beatrice Wood (March 3, 1893 – March 12, 1998) was an American artist and studio potter involved in the Avant Garde movement in the United States; she founded and edited ''The Blind Man'' and '' Rongwrong'' magazines in New York City with Fren ...
,
as well as
Pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
art; they were assisted by dealer
Earl L. Stendahl. The Arensbergs became particularly close with Duchamp, who lived in their apartment during the summer of 1915 while they vacationed at their summer home in
Pomfret, Connecticut
Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,266 in 2020 according to the 2020 United States Census. The land was purchased from Native Americans in 1686 (the "Mashmuket Purchase" or "Mashamoquet Purchase ...
. They would become the artist's lifelong patrons and form the largest, most significant collection of his work.
[Arensberg Archives: Historical Note](_blank)
Philadelphia Museum of Art. When Duchamp's idea to dispatch his 1917 work ''
Fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were ori ...
'', an ordinary bathroom urinal signed with the pseudonym "R. Mutt," to the first show of the
Society of Independent Artists
Society of Independent Artists was an association of American artists founded in 1916 and based in New York.
Background
Based on the French Société des Artistes Indépendants, the goal of the society was to hold annual exhibitions by avant-gard ...
was rejected, both he and Arensberg felt obliged to resign from the society. The circle of friends and artists frequented the Arensberg Salon in Manhattan has been represented in a visual reconstruction ''Chez Arensbergs'' by the French painter André Raffray (1925-2010), created upon a commission by the New York art dealer and dada specialist Francis M. Naumann, who also actively participated in the creative process.
California years
In 1921, for health and financial reasons and upon Louise's insistence, the couple relocated to
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
. While the move was originally intended to be temporary, the Arensbergs remained in California for the rest of their lives, returning to New York for only a year between 1925 and 1926. They first lived in Residence A, a guest house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on Olive Hill, a property owned by
Aline Barnsdall
Louise Aline Barnsdall (April 1, 1882 – December 18, 1946) was an American oil heiress, best known as Frank Lloyd Wright's client for the Hollyhock House in Los Angeles, now the centerpiece of the city's Barnsdall Art Park.
Biography
Born i ...
. for a time. In September 1927, the Arensbergs purchased their permanent home on 7065 Hillside Avenue, an example of Mediterranean Revival architecture built in 1920 for Lee B. Memefee and designed by architect
William Lee Woollett; they later commissioned architect
Richard Neutra to build an addition to house
Constantin Brâncuși's bronze version of ''
L'Oiseau dans l'espace'' (1924). In 1946,
Max Ernst
Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...
and
Dorothea Tanning
Dorothea Margaret Tanning (25 August 1910 – 31 January 2012) was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet. Her early work was influenced by Surrealism.
Biography
Dorothea Tanning was born and raised in Galesburg, Illin ...
were married at the home in a double wedding with
Juliet Browner
Juliet Man Ray (née Browner; 1911 – January 17, 1991) was an American dancer and model, who became the wife and muse of the artist Man Ray.
Early life
She was born Juliet Browner, the daughter of Henry Browner, who had emigrated from Romania ...
and
Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...
. Walter served as a board member of the
Los Angeles Art Association (1937),
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum).
LACMA was founded in 19 ...
(1938–1939), and the
Southwest Museum
The Southwest Museum of the American Indian is a museum, library, and archive located in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, above the north-western bank of the Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County) canyon and stream. The muse ...
(1944–1954). In addition, he was a founding board member of the short-lived American Arts in Action (1943) and the Modern Institute of Art, Beverly Hills (1947–1949), organizations dedicated to showing modern art in California.
Francis Bacon Foundation
Intrigued with writer
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
, particularly the aspects of
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
,
cryptography
Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
,
Rosicrucianism, and, inevitably, the
Shakespeare-Bacon debate, the Arensbergs researched his work. In 1937 they established the
Francis Bacon Foundation in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
intending to promote "research in history, philosophy, science, literature, and art, with special reference to the life and works of Francis Bacon" and in 1954 endowed it with funds and their collection of Baconiana. The Foundation's library was housed in its own small brick building at the
Claremont Colleges
The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)— Pomona College, Sc ...
beginning in 1960. In the intervening years, the collection grew from its original 3,500 volumes to over 16,000 volumes. With the failing health of the collection's longtime librarian and curator, Elizabeth Wrigley, the Foundation decided to transfer it to the
Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Ma ...
in San Marino. The collection is now known as the Francis Bacon Foundation Arensberg Collection.
Legacy
In the 1940s the Arensbergs began to look for a permanent home for their collection. In 1941, a group around actors
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
,
Edward G. Robinson,
Fanny Brice, and
Sam Jaffe
Shalom "Sam" Jaffe (March 10, 1891 – March 24, 1984) was an American actor, teacher, musician, and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in '' The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950) and ap ...
tried to get the collection to stay on the West Coast, for the Modern Institute of Art in Beverly Hills. In 1944, the Arensbergs signed a deed of gift with the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
, which included the stipulation that the University build an appropriate museum to house the collection in a specified time frame; their friend and fellow collector
Galka Scheyer
Galka Scheyer (born Emilie Esther Scheyer; 15 April 1889, Braunschweig – 13 December 1945, Los Angeles) was a German-American painter, art dealer, art collector, and teacher. She was the founder of the "Blue Four," an artists' group that consist ...
subsequently signed a similar agreement. By the fall of 1947 it was obvious that this condition would not be met and the contract was nullified. In 1939, the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum).
LACMA was founded in 19 ...
's board turned down a gift of avant-garde works from the collection.
The Arensbergs then began negotiations with numerous other institutions, including the
Art Institute of Chicago, the
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With encyclopedic collections of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums between ...
,
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, the
Honolulu Academy of Arts
The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single co ...
, the
Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes
The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, en, National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural ...
(Mexico, D.F.), the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, the
San Francisco Museum of Art,
Stanford University, the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
. The Arensbergs eventually dropped their demand that the recipient of the collection also provide for the continuance of the Francis Bacon Foundation. After protracted discussions and many visits from Director
Fiske Kimball
Sidney Fiske Kimball (1888 – 1955) was an American architect, architectural historian and museum director. A pioneer in the field of architectural preservation in the United States, he played a leading part in the restoration of Monticel ...
and his wife Marie, the Arensbergs presented their collection of over 1000 objects, including correspondence, ephemera, clippings, writings, personal and art collection records, and photographs documenting the couple's art collecting activities as well as their friendship with many important artists, writers and scholars, to the
Philadelphia Museum of Art on December 27, 1950.
In 1949, Daniel Catton Rich and Katherine Kuh organized the first public exhibition of the Arensberg collection, held at the
Art Institute of Chicago in 1949. For the exhibition ''Making Mischief: Dada Invades New York'' in 1996, the
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
partially recreated the interior of the Manhattan apartment of the Arensbergs.
[Stephen Birmingham (September 8, 1996)]
L.A.'s postwar art scene: Hot rods and hedonism
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''.
'Hollywood Arensberg', by Mark Nelson,
William H. Sherman, and Ellen Hoobler, provides a room-by-room, wall-by-wall, and object-by-object reconstruction of the couple’s Los Angeles home and art collection. Published by the Getty Research Institute in 2020, the book provides detailed context for the Arensbergs’ massive accumulation of modern and pre-Columbian art as well as Renaissance books and manuscripts. It recovers the intellectual world of a collector obsessed with chess and devoted to
Baconian research, and sheds significant light on the couple's relationships with
Marcel Duchamp
Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
,
Beatrice Wood
Beatrice Wood (March 3, 1893 – March 12, 1998) was an American artist and studio potter involved in the Avant Garde movement in the United States; she founded and edited ''The Blind Man'' and '' Rongwrong'' magazines in New York City with Fren ...
,
Earl Stendahl,
Robert Woods Bliss
Robert Woods Bliss (August 5, 1875 – April 19, 1962) was an American diplomat, art collector, philanthropist, and one of the co-founders of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C.
Early life
Bliss was born in S ...
,
Marius de Zayas
Marius de Zayas Enriquez y Calmet (March 13, 1880 – January 10, 1961), was an early 20th-century Mexican artist, writer and art gallery owner who was influential in the New York arts circles of the 1910s and 1920s.
Life
De Zayas was born to we ...
,
Walter Pach,
William Friedman
William Frederick Friedman (September 24, 1891 – November 12, 1969) was a US Army cryptographer who ran the research division of the Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1930s, and parts of its follow-on services into the 1950s. I ...
, and others.
References
External links
Philadelphia Museum of Art*
"Historical note" about the Arensbergs and their collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arensberg, Walter Conrad
1878 births
1954 deaths
Harvard University alumni
American art collectors
American art critics
Poets from Pennsylvania
Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship
People associated with the Philadelphia Museum of Art