What is it about?
Harold Woodbury Parsons was an American art agent, with ever-expanding contacts in the US, Italy, Spain, Greece and northern Europe. His manifold activities are mostly described in his vast correspondence, which describes a plethora of clients, dealers, experts and opportunities from c. 1910 until his death in Rome in 1967. The "1948 letter" of the article's title, here published for the first time and consisting of 5,000-plus words, is addressed to his former colleague at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Henry S. Francis, who was about to begin a 9-month sabbatical in Italy and France. It describes the Italian art market in remarkable and frank detail, from personalities to the revived Italian economy and newly-discovered Old Master paintings.
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Why is it important?
The documentation for art world intermediaries tends to be extremely sparse, given their need to protect sources and grow their clientele. Moreover, the dynamic, sometimes complicated Italian art market tends not to be known for its transparency. Parsons' letter of 1948 to a friend & curator of the cash-rich Cleveland Museum of Art affords the opportunity to learn much about both worlds. Explanatory detail is also provided by the author's footnotes and a "Who's Who List" of selected persons mentioned in the text. The latter feature, consisting of 28 pp., is drawn from recent publications as well as multiple unpublished sources.
Perspectives
This one letter, important for the history of art collecting in post-WWII Europe and America, provides an extensive and informative glimpse of Parsons' field of operations. He functioned--as his sometime correspondent, Bernard Berenson, wrote--"here, there and everywhere" and, following his "retirement" to Rome in 1953, became increasingly obsessed with forgeries. The value of his correspondence as source material is here, especially, made manifest.
Eliot Rowlands
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: ‘Here, There, and Everywhere:’ Harold Parsons, the Italian Art Market and a Letter of 1948, August 2023, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004680449_011.
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