D. Von Bothmer -Aspects of a Collection

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Aspects o f a Collection

DIETRICH VoN BO T H M E R Curator f Greekand RomanArt

M ORE THAN A HUNDRED VASES from the collection of Walter Bareiss, shown

duringthe summer n the BlumenthalPatio, were chosen from over four hundred. All of

them were collected in the last twelve years, and the collection is still growing. When

Mr. Bareiss first visited Greece, in I952, he fell in love with the country and its art.

His earliestcollecting

had centered around Far Easternart;

later he made a name for

himself as a collector of modern art, and today his interest is divided between the

contemporary and the classical.This does not present a conflict, for Mr. Bareiss is

more interested in the personal style of an individual artist than in the general styleof a period.

Ever since Mr. Bareissgave me access to his vases five years ago, I have been fasci-

nated by the constant process of selection and upgrading that is so essential to the

formation of agreat

collection. It is sometimes claimed, andquite wrongly,

I think,

that wealth alone can bring about almost anything, and that a collection normally

representsthe income bracket in which a given purchasecan be made. This approachtends to ignore something more fundamental:why is money spent at all on works of

art? And to what extent can money determine the characterof something as personalas a collection of Greek vases?Surely other considerationsenter into it. I have known

of nobody, even men of almost unlimited wealth, who did not at the moment of pur-chase have to meet the challengeof a choice - a choice based on preferenceas much as

on cost. No one will claim that it is fashionable o collect Greek vases,and even payingunheard-ofprices will not put a collector of Greek vases into newspaperheadlinesor

the annuals of auction houses. The very fact that the passion spent on these lesser-

known works of art cannot be appreciated by everyone makes such a collector relymore on his own sense of beauty than on popularappeal.Some collectors do not move

without counsel;others are as impetuous as a young man in love, and their regretsare

less frequently voiced over objects they should not have bought than over master-

pieces they lost.

With over fifty thousand painted vases in existence, no single collection can layclaim to being truly representative. The long life of a museum brings with it some

Contents

Aspectsof a Collection

DIETRICH VON

BOTHMER 425

European rawings romtheBareissCollection

JACOB BEAN 437

Training YoungCurators

JOHN WALSH, JR.

A LittleFrenchBook

ANNE PALMS

CHALMERS

442

445

COVER, FRONTISPIECE

Red-figuredylix.SignedbyDourisaspainter.Attic,about

480 B.C. Boys in school. Width

15 6 inches 39 cm.). All the vasesillustratedn thisarticlewere

lentby WalterC.Bareiss.

L 68.142.z5

425



JUNE 1969

T h e Metropolitanuseum o f A r t B U L L E T N



.,

\I



measureof assurancehat its collectionof vases, f workedon steadily,will in time

improve;whilethe supplycontinues,t is often morea questionof budgetary lloca-

tions than of opportunities.Here museumshat were able to lay their foundationsn

the happierdaysof the nineteenth enturyand the firstyearsof this,have the advan-

tage of a wealth of examplesof recognizedqualityagainstwhicheach newcomer smeasured.A contemporaryollector,on the otherhand,muststartfromscratch.He

may envy the easewithwhichthegreatprivateandpubliccollectionswereformed n

the last century,but he may feel compensatedn knowingthat today'sincreased

knowledge f vasepaintinghelpshim to a surerrecognition f style than waspossiblefor his predecessors. ppreciationf a paintedvase doesnot, of course,consistsolelyof dating t or attributingt to a specificartist.Scholarshipas advanced n the last

sixty years o the pointwherepracticallyveryGreekvase has been or can be attrib-uted,and certain alescatalogues lmostexploitscholarly efinements nd abound n

such catch phrasesas "rare,""unique,""unusual," r the like. Rememberinghe

numberof vasesthatexist,a true collector s not easilyseducedby suchepithets.He

must find n the objectitselfa fulfillment f the desires f hisacquisitivenstinct.

Mr. Bareisshas beenguided by his own idealsof qualityand by an all-pervasivesenseof curiosity.Some of his vaseswereboughtfor the sheerbeautyof theirshape,

but the majoritywere selectedwithan eye to the painteddecoration.His interest nthe subject,coupledwith a genuineunderstandingf qualityin drawing,has freed

Mr. Bareiss rom the quaintprejudice gainst ragmentshat is encountered o often.

The true connoisseurf paintedGreekvaseswillput greatervalue on a singlefigure,

incomplete,paintedby a masterthan on a seductivelycompletevase decorated n

hasteby a hack.Moreover,hiseye will be able to restorean entirefigure,or even a

wholecomposition, n sherds hataretantalizinglyncomplete.Hisvasesneed not be

signed;he willrecognize rtistsby theirstylealone,and he will remember hatmanyof the best vasepainters restillanonymouso us and have had to begivendistinctive

names n modern imes.

TheMetropolitan useumofArt BulletinVOLUME XXVII, NUMBER I JUNE I969

Published monthly from October to June and quarterly from July to September. Copyright ? I969

by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, New York, N. Y. o0028.Second

class postage paid at New York, N. Y. Subscriptions $5.00 a year. Single copies fifty cents. Sent free to

Museum members. Four weeks' notice required for change of address. Back issues available on micro-

film from University Microfilms, 313 N. First Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Volumes i-xxxvII (I905-

1942) available as a clothbound reprint set or as individual yearly volumes from Arno Press, 330

Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10017, or from the Museum, Box 255, Gracie Station, New York,N. Y. 10028. Editor of Publications: Leon Wilson. Editor-in-chief of the Bulletin: Katharine H. B.

Stoddert; Assistant Editor: Susan Goldsmith; Designer: Peter Oldenburg.

426



So farI havespoken fMr.Bareiss'sases sawhole; heonesonview n theMuseumwerechosenwithseveralpointsof view in mind.Apart rom heobvious irstconsider-

ation,artisticquality,anattemptwasmadenot only to showto advantagehe entire

gamutof the Bareiss ollection,but alsoto supplement ur own richdisplay.Those

who love Greek vases or the sake of theirrefined hapeswill thusdetect one of theearliestpanel amphoraswith flangedhandles Figure4), a kylix exceptionaln form

and decoration, igned by the potterNicosthenes,and a hydriawith rare coloristic

touches of white on foot and mouth (Figure 8), and will observe the drinking cupfrom its modest beginning (Figure 2) to its proud perfectionin the late archaicperiod

(Cover). The specialist in regional styles will be delighted by the lekythos (Figure I)and olpe from Corinth, the two cups made in eastern Greece, the hydria from the

territoryof Chalkis,and the smallLaconiancup. Those who know their Greek mythol-ogy only from Bulfinch or other watered-down versions will be amazed at the vigorand freshness the ancient paintersbrought to these stories: he will see the Calydonianboar hunt through the eyes of an archaic artist (Figure 2), and watch the exodus of

Anchises and his family from Troy as depicted five centuries before Vergil (Figure 9)or the death of Agamemnon as painted years before it was dramatizedby Aeschylus

(Figure I I). Those less keen on puzzling out depictions of often complex myths will

recognize unexpectedly intimate glances into the home life of the Athenians: womendescending into the wine cellar for an unobserved quick drink (Figure I5); boys at

school confronted by their teachers (Cover and Frontispiece); revels and their conse-

quences (Figures I , 12, 13). Equally impressive to some will be the array of great

names in vase painting: the black-figuremasters are represented by Lydos and the

Affecter (Figures 4, 5); the inside of a cup attributed to Oltos is painted in black-

figure, while the scene on the outside is executed in the new red-figure technique

(Figures 6, 7),and the

styleis continued

through Epiktetosto the

Brygos Painter,Makron, and Douris, to list only the chief of the cup painters.Among the others, the

Berlin Painter, the Eucharides Painter, Myson, and the Triptolemos Painter should

be noted in passing.The subtle change in drawing that sheds the archaic manner and

leads on to the freedom of the classicperiod is best exemplified by the fragmentsof a

large hydria with the arming of Achilles, perhapsby the Hector Painter (Figure I4),

and the full classicstyle is reached with the mug by the Eretria Painter (Figure I6).

At that time, Attic vasepainting

went into a decline, and forgood drawing

we must

turn to the red-figurestyles formed in southern Italy after the PeloponnesianWars

by Greek immigrants. By now, however, wall and easelpainting were fully developed,and vase painting occupied a humbler position. Whereas in the archaic period, as we

know from some rare surviving examples, wall paintings and panel paintings looked

remarkablylike contemporary vase paintings, the discrepancy in scale between the

two, not to mention the more imaginative use of color employed on wallsand panels,must have resulted in ever-wideningdifferences.Painting on clay remaineddependent

on the limited palette of ceramic colors, and though the drawing,with its increased

understandingof perspective, both corporealand spatial, with its skilled use of shad-

427



ing, its staggered compositions, and its subtler renderingsof facial expressions,must

have been similar in the two branches of painting, the overall effect must have been

completely different. In the fourth century, especiallyin the Greek coloniesof southern

Italy and Sicily, the lavish use of added colors was surely prompted by an understand-

able desire to rival the biggerpaintingson wallsand panels, but the result wasno closerto "free"painting than, let us say, colored woodcuts or lithographsare to oil paintings.

In theirefforts to reproducethe achievements of a moresuccessfulbranchof painting,the South Italian vase painters concentrated on the pictures and paid less attention to

the special requirementsof the differentshapes,with the result that the pictures tend

to lose their close, organic relationshipwith the surfaceon which they are painted. In

turn, the potters' repertory,which included the traditionalAttic shapesas well as some

specificallynative ones, lost the subtle sense of proportionsand carefulbalance of com-ponent parts that distinguished the Athenian prototypes. It has therefore been said

with some justice that South Italian vasepainting can best be appreciatedon fragments.Here the eye is not distracted by the shapeand can read,as it were, the drawingin all

its purity. Significantly, Mr. Bareiss'sforays into South Italian wares have been con-

centrated on fragments.The exhibition spans three centuries of vase painting, from a delightful miniature

lekythos of the mid-seventh century (Figure I) to the ornate products of Sicily, datedin the middle of the fourth century B.C. (Figure I7). In the history of Greece, it is

these three centuries in which the Greek culture was born and flourished, in which

her achievements in all fields- architecture,sculpture,painting, literature,music, rhet-

oric, philosophy, science, and politics-came to pass. This exhibition, small and re-

stricted as it is, puts into sharp focus much of the Greek heritage, fortunately not

yet forgotten.

LEFT

i. Blacf-Jiguredekythos.Proto-Corinthian,econdblack-figuretyle,about650 B.C.Sphinxesandgoat; below, wo houndsand a hare.Mostof themouth,neck,and handlearerestored.

Height, as restored, 4 inches(7 cm.). L 68.42.1

OPPOSITE, ABOVE

2. Black-figured Siana cup. Attic, about 580-570 B.C. The Calydonian boar hunt. Width i38inches(34 cm.). L 68.s42.4

OPPOSITE, BELOW

3. Black-glazed cup-skyphos. Attic, about 540 B.C. Width 9V16 nches (24.1 cm.). L 69. 1.16

428



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ABOVE, LEFT

4. Blacl:figuredamphoraof type A. Attributed o Lydos. Attic, about 550-540 B.C. Theseus

slayingthe Minotaur, with Athenianyouths and maidenslooking on. This is one of the earliest

amphoras of the typewithflanged handlesand aflaringfoot, contemporarywith those

painted by membersof GroupE, with which the vase has some affinities.Height i818 inches

(46 cm.). L 69.11.6

ABOVE, RIGHT

5. Black-figuredneck-amphora.Attributedby Beazleyto the chief black:-figure annerist, he

Affecter.Attic,540 B.C. Herakles s shownattacking hecentaurNessos,in thepresenceof Iolaos

and other men. On the neck,threerevelers.Height 751? inches(38.5 cm.). L 68.I42.5

OPPOSITE

6, 7. BlackJfigured nd red-figuredkylix. Attributedby Beazley to Oltos. Attic, about 520 B.C.

On the black-figuredondo, reveler; nscribed"Memnon is handsome." On the red-figuredoutside, here llustrated,youth. Width z6 inches(40.6 cm.). L 69.I I.33



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OPPOSITE

8. Black-figuredydria.Attributedo theLykomedesainter, amed fterApollo's harioteern a column-kratern the Museum.Attic,about

510 B.C. On the shoulder,Heraklesand the Nemean lion;on the body,Heraklesttemptingo steal heDelphic ripod,ApolloandArtemisnter-

vening,and Athena upporting erakles.Theirnamesareinscribedn theSamianalphabet.Themouthandfootarepaintedwhite.Height 54

inches40.I cm.).L 68.142.8

RIGHT

9. Black-figuredeck-amphora.ttributedo theLeagrosGroup.Attic,about

510-500 B.C. Aeneas rescuinghisfather, Anchises,accompaniedby his

mother,Aphrodite,ndhisson,Ascanius, fter hefall of Troy.Thenames

of three f the iguresare nscribed.On theneck, harioteer.eight

54

inches40.1 cm.).L 69.1.1i

BELOW

io. Red-figuredylix.Attributedo the Painter f LondonE 2. Attic,about

510 B.C. In thetondo,reveler.Thezonearound hetondo s notblack,as

on mostcups,butpaintedwitha glazethatiredred. Width31516 nches

(35.5 cm.).L 68.142.9



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OPPOSITE, ABOVE

ii. Fragmentary ed-figuredkylix. Attributed

by the owner to the BrygosPainter.

Attic, about 490 B.C. The deathof Aga-

memnon,with Clytaemestra emoving

the robein which he had beentrapped.Inherrighthand, now missing,shemayhave held an axe to administera third

wound. His hair looks wet: in some

versionsof themythhe was killedafterhis

bath. Note that his eyes aredead but not

closed, and that his mouth is open.Diameter of tondo 68 inches(16.9 cm.).

L 69.11.35

OPPOSITE, BELOW

12. Tondo of a red-figuredkylix. Attributed

by Beazleyto Makron. Attic, about

480-470 B.C. Revelerwith a staffand

drinking up. Diameteroftondo 41 inches

(Io.8 cm.).

RIGHT

13. Detail of theoutsideof a red-figured ylix.Signedby Brygosaspotterand attrib-

uted by Beazley to the BriseisPainter.

Attic, about 480 B.C. Revelers.Diameter

I2>6 inches(30.7 cm.). L 68.142.17

14. Fragmentary ed-figuredhydria.Perhaps

by the HectorPainter. Attic, about

440 B.C. Achilles in his tent,receivinghis new armor rom Thetis and six

Nereidsarrivingon dolphins. Width74

inches(43.8 cm.). L 69.11.26



15. Red-figuredkyphos.Attic,about470-460B.C. Servant irland hermistressn a winecellar; he adyof thehouse s

drinkingnthesly.Height 16 inchesI5.45 cm.).L 69.1 .70

i6. Red-figuredmug. Attributedby Beazley to the EretriaPainter. Attic, about 430 B.C. Boy on a seesaw. Height 32

inches (8.8 cm.). L 69.11.29

17. Fragmentaryed-figuredquatlekythos.Sicilian,mid-fourth

centuryB.C.Fluting atyr ailingon a wineskin.Height,as preserved, 6 inches(i3.3 cm.). L 69.11.58

D. Von Bothmer -Aspects of a Collection

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