THE DRAWINGS OF THE FLORENTINE PAINTERS (Complete in Three Volumes) Amplified Edition by Berenson, Bernard - 1938

Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Near Fine in Very Good dust jacket. 1938. First Edition Thus. First Printing. Hard Cover. The Amplified Edition, complete in three volumes. Publisher's full, bright blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Copiously illustrated with hundreds of B&W reproductions. Volume 1: Text. xiv, 367 pp. Volume 2: Catalogue. Xii, 388 pp. Volume 3: Illustrations. Approximately 400+ pp. Bernard Berenson (1865 - 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. He was a major figure in establishing the market for paintings by the Old Masters. This work, The Drawings of the Florentine Painters, is considered his masterpiece. Among U. S. Collectors of the early 1900s, Berenson was regarded as the pre-eminent authority on Renaissance art. His verdict of authenticity increased a painting's value. While his approach remained controversial among European art historians and connoisseurs, he played a pivotal role as an advisor to several important American art collectors, such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, who needed help in navigating the complex and treacherous market of newly fashionable Renaissance art. In this respect Berenson's influence was enormous, while his 5% commission made him a wealthy man. Starting with his The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance with an Index to their Works (1894) his mix of connoisseurship and systematic approach proved immensely successful. In 1895 his Lorenzo Lotto, an Essay on Constructive Art Criticism won wide critical acclaim. It was quickly followed by The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance (1896) that was lauded by William James for its innovative application of "elementary psychological categories to the interpretation of higher art". In 1897 Berenson added another work to his series of scholarly yet handy guides publishing The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance. After that he devoted six years of pioneering work to what is widely regarded as his deepest and most substantial book, The Drawings of the Florentine Painters, which was published in 1903. In 1907 he published his The North Italian Painters of the Renaissance, where he expressed a devastating and still controversial judgment of Mannerist art, which may be related to his love for Classicism and his professed distaste for Modern Art. His early works were later integrated in his most famous book, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (1930) which was widely translated and reprinted. He also published two volumes of journals, Rumor and Reflection and Sunset and Twilight. He is also the author of Aesthetics and History and Sketch for a Self-portrait. His beautiful residence in Fiesole near Florence, which he named I Tatti, is now the Harvard Center for Renaissance Studies. It houses his art collection and his personal library of books on art history and humanism, which Berenson regarded as his most enduring legacy. Berenson's works include: Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1894); Lorenzo Lotto: An Essay in Constructive Art Criticism (1895); Florentine Painters of the Renaissance (1896); Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance (1897); The Sense of Quality: Study and Criticism of Italian Art (1901; second series, 1902); The Drawings of the Florentine Painters (1903); North Italian Painters of the Renaissance (1907); A Sienese Painter of the Franciscan Legend (1910); Venetian Painting in America: The Fifteenth Century (New York, 1916); Essays in the Study of Sienese Painting (New York, 1918); The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (1930); Sketch for a Self-Portrait (1949); Rumor and Reflection (1952); The Passionate Sightseer (1960); and Sunset and Twilight: Diaries 1947-1958 (1963). . Spines of books are very slightly faded, else pristine, unmarked, tight, square and clean. NO ownership markings or bookplates. Clipped dust jackets are sun-faded on the spine and have slight dust soiling, light rubbing to edges, some minor creases and small chips at spine ends and tips. Volume III has a 1" chip at the bottom of the front panel, and one short gouge in the middle. All volumes are now protected by mylar. NEAR FINE/ VERY GOOD. . B&W Reproductions. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. xiv, 367; xii, 388 pp .