Online publications by Tiffany Johnston
Palgrave Encyclopedia of Victorian Women's Writing, 2020
Maud Cruttwell’s artist monographs were early exemplars for the genre, and her efforts to discern... more Maud Cruttwell’s artist monographs were early exemplars for the genre, and her efforts to discern and establish a canon for several important artists, particularly Luca and Andrea della Robbia, were a significant contribution to the study of Italian Renaissance art.
Palgrave Encyclopedia of Victorian Women's Writing, 2020
A young champion of Walt Whitman, Mary Berenson became an American ex-patriot art historian who a... more A young champion of Walt Whitman, Mary Berenson became an American ex-patriot art historian who assisted her husband, Bernard Berenson, in establishing a foundational canon for Italian Renaissance painting. In addition to writing on art historical matters and defending her husband’s method of connoisseurship under the pseudonym “Mary Logan,” Mary lectured extensively to encourage the collection of Italian Renaissance art in America and conducted negotiations for her husband with the dealer Joseph Duveen. Mary also supported her husband during the establishment of his career by taking and maintaining their notes, overseeing their extensive library and photo archive, and editing and preparing most of his manuscripts.
19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century, 2019
American expatriate scholar, Mary Berenson (née Whitall Smith) (Fig. 1), collaborated with her se... more American expatriate scholar, Mary Berenson (née Whitall Smith) (Fig. 1), collaborated with her second husband, the connoisseur Bernard Berenson, in creating a foundational canon for the field of Italian Renaissance painting with their attributional lists.
19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century, 2019
Although his long-time companion and wife, Mary Costelloe Berenson, was Bernard Berenson’s most c... more Although his long-time companion and wife, Mary Costelloe Berenson, was Bernard Berenson’s most conspicuous female protégée, she was obligated to write under a pseudonym. She therefore focused a large share of her energies in assisting Bernard in his research and writing, as well as in shaping the reception of his school of connoisseurship through articles and reviews. Among the several sapphic women in their circle studying art — a group Mary dubbed the ‘Virgins of the Hill’ — Maud Cruttwell was perhaps the most outwardly successful. Having studied under the tutelage of both Mary and Bernard Berenson, she established an independent reputation by publishing a series of popular artist monographs in rapid succession. Though she eventually became disillusioned with the field of art history, her contributions, important for their popularization of Berensonian connoisseurship, long remained benchmark resources in, as well as models for, the study of Italian Renaissance art.
Online Exhibition "Berenson and Harvard: Bernard and Mary as Students", 2012
Among the boxes of archival materials in the Berenson Library are miscellaneous papers—remains of... more Among the boxes of archival materials in the Berenson Library are miscellaneous papers—remains of the lives of Mary and Bernard before they ever set eyes on Villa I Tatti. Mary, in particular, had a lifelong habit of recording: diaries, notes on places visited and art works seen, letters to family and acquaintances, and even lists of friends and of books read. Of the many book lists Mary transcribed is the following, found in one of her notebooks. (cat. MS.III.3) It dates from December 1884, the mid-point of her time at the Harvard Annex. By illuminating Mary’s philosophical influences and extracurricular interests in physiology and literature, it offers an intellectual snapshot of her during this pivotal moment. We get a glimpse of the young woman as she was at Harvard, and can surmise how these readings may have shaped Mary and help set the foundation for her later collaboration with Bernard.
Online Exhibition: "Berenson and Harvard: Bernard and Mary as Students", 2012
Peer-Reviewed Articles by Tiffany Johnston
Journal of the History of Collections (Oxford University Press), 2019
For nearly a decade Carl W. Hamilton was in possession of one of the most important private colle... more For nearly a decade Carl W. Hamilton was in possession of one of the most important private collections of Italian Renaissance painting in America. A self-made millionaire from humble beginnings, the young Hamilton captivated the art dealer Joseph Duveen and Duveen’s foremost experts in Italian Renaissance painting, Bernard and Mary Berenson. By inspiring and instructing Hamilton, Duveen and the Berensons hoped to focus his wealth and ambition to create a great collection and thereby profit by both him and the glory of his achievement. Though Hamilton’s personal collection proved ephemeral, many of his most important works of art nevertheless found their way into American public collections. Furthermore, Hamilton’s formative collecting experience – which developed his prejudices and preferences, sharpened his keen negotiating skills and solidified his zeal for collecting – helped to shape two significant collections of Old Masters in the Carolinas: the Museum & Gallery at Bob Jones University and the North Carolina Museum of Art.
I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance, 2016
“Some Comments on Correggio in Connection with his Pictures in Dresden,” is here identified as th... more “Some Comments on Correggio in Connection with his Pictures in Dresden,” is here identified as the earliest publication on the connoisseurship of Italian Renaissance painting by renowned connoisseur Bernard Berenson. The evolution of the article reveals that Berenson's selection of Antonio Allegri da Correggio (1489-1534) as a subject was not arbitrary. Indeed, the selection of Correggio constituted Berenson's formative effort to combine the methodological approaches of two earlier historians of Italian Renaissance art, Giovanni Morelli and John Addington Symonds. By integrating a Morellian examination of anatomical details with a Symondian aesthetic sensitivity to the artist as revealed through his work, Berenson arrived at his concept of “artistic personality” and a seemingly certifiable science of connoisseurship. To demonstrate its viability, Berenson implemented his new methodology in a pioneering monograph on Lorenzo Lotto - an artist whose work he initially believed demonstrated an affinity to that of Correggio.
Books by Tiffany Johnston
ISBN: 9788870385847, 2024
Based on her voluminous manuscripts, this essay reflects upon Mary Berenson’s association with th... more Based on her voluminous manuscripts, this essay reflects upon Mary Berenson’s association with the hillsides below Fiesole and how, over a lifetime, she was instrumental in transforming the home she shared with her husband – art connoisseur, Bernard Berenson – from a rustic farmhouse into its current incarnation, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. Providing glimpses of Mary’s vibrant personality, the essay conveys a vision of the area as the Berensons once knew it and reveals interesting hillside connections both personal and historical. It further suggests that Mary’s indomitable philosophy, what she called the “Golden Urn” principle, guided her vision for Villa I Tatti, a place whose unique atmosphere, as much as its inhabitants, drew artists, writers, and statesmen, as well as the affluent and fashionable from around the world.
Book chapter by Tiffany Johnston
Published in "A Market for Merchant Princes: Collecting Italian Renaissance Paintings in America,... more Published in "A Market for Merchant Princes: Collecting Italian Renaissance Paintings in America," Penn State University Press, 2015, pp. 72-81.
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Online publications by Tiffany Johnston
Peer-Reviewed Articles by Tiffany Johnston
Books by Tiffany Johnston
Book chapter by Tiffany Johnston