The Art of Acquiring: A Portrait of Etta and Claribel Cone

Mary Gabriel

ago 2002 · Bancroft Press

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For four and a half decades, Etta and Claribel Cone roamed artists' studios and art galleries in Europe, building one of the largest, most important art collections in the world. At one time, these two independently wealthy Jewish women from Baltimore received offers from virtually every prominent art museum in the world, all anxious to house their hitherto private assemblage of modern art. In 1949, they awarded all their holdings to the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 2002, that collection was valued at nearly $1 billion, making them two of the most philanthropic art collectors of our age.Yet, for complex reasons, the story of the Cone sisters has never been fully or accurately told.Mary Gabriel, an art-minded journalist and women's historian, has, at long last, brought the little-known sisters to life, and shone the spotlight on their remarkable achievements.

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Mary Gabriel, currently based in London, works as a reporter and editor for the world desk of Reuters News Service. Previously, she served as executive editor of the award-winning Museum & Arts Washington magazine, and prior to that edited and reported for United Press International and the Baltimore News-American newspaper. Her first book, Notorious Victoria: The Life of Victoria Woodhull, Uncensored, was a New York Times Notable Book in 1998. Her second, The Art of Acquiring: A Portrait of Etta & Claribel Cone, is the definitive source on its subject. A native of Minneapolis, and a longtime resident of Baltimore, she holds a Diplome from the University of Paris at the Sorbonne, a Bachelor's of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a Master's Degree in Journalism from American University.