Skip Navigation



Journal of the History of Collections Advance Access published online on August 14, 2009
Journal of the History of Collections, doi:10.1093/jhc/fhp034
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Webb, J. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Golden Age collecting in America's Middle West

Chester and Clara Congdon's Glensheen Historical Manor and Raymond Wyer's An Art Museum

Jennifer D. Webb


  Abstract

In 1916, the director of the Hackley Art Gallery in Muskegon, Michigan, Raymond Wyer [Henniker-Heaton], published An Art Museum. Its Concept and Conduct, in which he described the value of a small, but stellar, collection of art. His vision of the role the museum could play in edifying the general public reflects the ideas of other theorists of the age and legitimized the collecting practice of Chester and Clara Congdon who had begun purchasing art and acquiring other objects around 1900. The items now decorate their home, Glensheen: the Historic Congdon Estate, in Duluth, Minnesota but are not, as often argued, simply an example of interior decoration. Instead the collection must be understood as a self-conscious celebration of their social status and a reflection of their personal values. All of the objects fashion the Congdons into disciplined, cultured, and well-travelled individuals who were purveyors of good taste.

Correspondence: Address for correspondence Jennifer D. Webb, Assistant Professor of Art History, Department of Art and Design, School of Fine Arts, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1201 Ordean Ct, 317 Humanities, Duluth MN 55812-3041 USA. jdwebb{at}d.umn.edu


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.