Legacy : Walter Chrysler Jr. and the untold story of Norfolk's Chrysler Museum of Art / Peggy Earle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Earle, Peggy, 1949-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chrysler, Walter P. (Walter Percy), 1909-1988.

Chrysler, Walter P.

Art--Collectors and collecting--United States--Biography.

Art.

Art--Collectors and collecting.

United States.

Chrysler Museum of Art.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 199 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2008.

Summary:

The Norfolk museum that would one day bear the Chrysler name was always a good museum of its kind, home to a respectable collection serving a smallish city. But when Norfolk native Jean Outland married Walter Chrysler, heir to the automobile manufacturing fortune and an avid art collector, the museum found a person with whom its fortunes would be intertwined, sometimes spectacularly, for decades to come. Walter had already established a Chrysler Museum in Provincetown, Massachusetts, but in 1971-in need of more space and, admittedly, a fresh start-he relocated the operation to Norfolk.

The museum that had once fretted over the possible purchase of a minor Cezanne because it would by itself deplete the entire budget now found itself playing host almost overnight to works by the Old Masters as well as many of the most notable modern artists. Chrysler's was a world-class art collection, containing pieces by, among others, Fragonard, Ingres, Gericault, Tiffany, Matisse, and Braque. The groundwork was laid for Norfolk's place on the cultural map.

In Legacy, Peggy Earle paints a vivid picture of this provincial museum's transformation into one of the finest art museums on the East Coast. She also delivers a captivating portrait of Walter Chrysler, a generous and demanding man who found in art patronage a focus not only for his wealth but also for his tremendous energy. Not content to merely admire the work, Chrysler had a naturally gregarious side and was apt to deal with artists such as Pablo Picasso directly. And yet he was also intensely private. Earle provides readers with a fascinating view of the politics of the museum world, where even good relationships are never uncomplicated.

A New York City native, Peggy Earle lived in Norfolk, Virginia, for thirty years, where she was the book review editor, a librarian, and contributing writer at the Virginian-Pilot. She is also an assemblage artist, illustrator, and painter. She resides in Connecticut.

Contents:

Rosebud

The Norfolk Museum Of Arts And Sciences

The auto baron's son

Walter and Jean

Provincetown

The collector

The controversial century

Leaving Provincetown

Finding a new home

The city reacts

The Chrysler Museum at Norfolk

Settling in

Big changes

Oh! Mario!

The lion declawed

Farewell to a devoted partner

A diamond jubilee

Heir to a fortune

The auction block

"A priceless blessing"

Legacy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-188) and index.

ISBN:

9780813927183

0813927188

OCLC:

183147413