BERENSON: A Biography

by Sylvia Sprigge ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 10, 1960

This, the first full biography of the late Bernard Berenson, is an accomplishment on three levels: in its depiction of Berenson's immense achievements as an art connoisseur; in its portrayal of Berenson's unique personal life; in its portrait of an era. Rich in personal and artistic details, Berenson's progress as a dealer and an authority on Renaissance art is traced from childhood days as an habitue of the Boston Public Library, through his stimulating and unorthodox career at Harvard as a protege of Mrs. Jack Gardner and a friend of Santayana, up to his death, a self-chosen exile, at ninety four. For seventy-one years he had resided in Italy, dying in his incomparable villa overlooking Florence, a fan ory from the plains of northeastern Europe where he was born, and the slums of Boston, where he spent his boyhood. Sylvia Sprigge, Roman correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, was a friend and frequent guest at the villa. She is fully appreciative of Berenson's role as an international symbol of culture and urbanity, of the techniques he brought to the field of art appraisal and criticism, and of his own searching and unpedantic approach to art. But she does not shy away from other aspects of his personality, his alienation from his own Jewish background, his- and his wife's- romantic dalliances with their many admirers, his unabashed admiration of royality. Here is a rounded portrait, uncommitted to any bias, et against the extravagantly beautiful atmosphere of the famous villa, I Tatti. Here is its slender and eloquent master who created his own image. Those who read his own Rumor and Reflection published by Simon & Schuster in 1952, will find elucidation here.

Pub Date: Aug. 10, 1960

ISBN: 0548449392

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1960

Categories: NONFICTION