# Benjamin Altman

Benjamin Altman (July 12, 1840 – October 7, 1913) was a New York City department store owner and art collector who is best known today for his large art collection, which he donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

## Life and career

Benjamin Altman was born on July 12, 1840, the son of Bavarian Jews who emigrated to America in 1835 and opened a small store on Attorney Street in New York City. After working in his father's dry goods store, Altman set out on his own. In 1865, Altman founded B. Altman and Company, a dry goods store located on Third Avenue and 10th Street in New York City. Over the years, the store grew in prosperity and expanded to several other locations. In 1877, a large storefront opened on Sixth Avenue; dubbed the "Palace of Trade" for its lavish architecture, Altman's store was one of the first to display clothing for different ages in different areas. In 1906, the B. Altman and Company Building opened on Fifth Avenue.
Altman used his wealth to fund various initiatives in his native city. Shortly before his death on October 7, 1913, he founded the Altman Foundation, a charity to support educational institutions in New York City.

## Art collections and portraits

Benjamin Altman was an avid collector of Rembrandt paintings and Oriental porcelain, much of which he acquired through his friend, art dealer Henry J. Duveen. He was often advised in his painting purchases by Max Friedlander. Upon his death, he donated the collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The painting collection alone was notable for including the museum's first Vermeer and 20 Rembrandts, though a few have since been devoted and reattributed. The collection also contains notable portraits of Flemish and German merchants from the Renaissance.

### Paintings in the bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913

| title | painter | date | accession number | The Met url |
| Man with a Steel Gorget | Style of Rembrandt | 1648 | 14.40.601 | MET |
| Yonker Ramp and his sweetheart | Frans Hals | 1623 | 14.40.602 | MET |
| Old Woman in an Armchair | Jacob Adriaensz Backer | 1640 | 14.40.603 | MET |
| The Fingernail Test | Frans Hals Judith Leyster | 1626 | 14.40.604 | MET |
| Shrovetide Revellers | Frans Hals | 1616 | 14.40.605 | MET |
| Saint Justina of Padua | Bartolomeo Montagna | | 14.40.606 | MET |
| Self-Portrait | Gerrit Dou | 1665 | 14.40.607 | MET |
| Rembrandt's Son Titus | Style of Rembrandt | 1680s | 14.40.608 | MET |
| Old Woman Cutting Her Nails | Style of Rembrandt | 1650s | 14.40.609 | MET |
| Pilate Washing His Hands | Style of Rembrandt | 1660s | 14.40.610 | MET |
| A Girl Asleep | Johannes Vermeer | 1657 | 14.40.611 | MET |
| Young Woman Peeling Apples | Nicolaes Maes | 1655 | 14.40.612 | MET |
| Interior with a Young Couple | Pieter de Hooch | 1662 | 14.40.613 | MET |
| Entrance to a Village | Meindert Hobbema | 1690s | 14.40.614 | MET |
| Portrait of a Woman, Called the Marchesa Durazzo | Anthony van Dyck | | 14.40.615 | MET |
| Young Herdsmen with Cows | Aelbert Cuyp | | 14.40.616 | MET |
| A Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier | Gerard ter Borch | | 14.40.617 | MET |
| Self portrait | Rembrandt | 1660 | 14.40.618 | MET |
| Lucas van Uffel (died 1637) | Anthony van Dyck | 1624s | 14.40.619 | MET |
| Portrait of a man with gloves in hand | Rembrandt | 1648 | 14.40.620 | MET |
| Man with a Magnifying Glass | Rembrandt | 1660s | 14.40.621 | MET |
| Woman with a Pink | Rembrandt | 1660s | 14.40.622 | MET |
| Wheat Fields | Jacob van Ruisdael | 1670 | 14.40.623 | MET |
| Portrait of a Man ("The Auctioneer") | Follower of Rembrandt | 1658 | 14.40.624 | MET |
| Portrait of a Woman | Rembrandt | 1633 | 14.40.625 | MET |
| Portrait of Maria Portinari | Hans Memling | 1470 | 14.40.626–27 | MET |
| The Crucifixion | Fra Angelico | | 14.40.628 | MET |
| Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace | after Willem Drost; bequeathed as a Rembrandt in 1913 | 1654 | 14.40.629 | MET |
| Ulrich Fugger (1490–1525) | Hans Maler zu Schwaz | 1525 | 14.40.630 | MET |
| The Supper at Emmaus | Diego Velázquez | | 14.40.631 | MET |
| Virgin and Child with Angels | Bernard van Orley | | 14.40.632 | MET |
| Virgin and Child with Saint Anne | Albrecht Dürer | 1519 | 14.40.633 | MET |
| Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine | Hans Memling | 1479 | 14.40.634 | MET |
| Madonna and Child with Angels | Workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio | 1500s | 14.40.635 | MET |
| Christ Taking Leave of His Mother | Gerard David | | 14.40.636 | MET |
| Lady Lee (Margaret Wyatt, born about 1509) | Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger | 1540s | 14.40.637 | MET |
| Federigo Gonzaga (1500–1540) | Francesco Francia | 1510 | 14.40.638 | MET |
| Philip IV (1605–1665), King of Spain | Diego Velázquez | | 14.40.639 | MET |
| Portrait of a Man | Titian | 1512 | 14.40.640 | MET |
| Madonna and Child with Saint Joseph and an Angel | Raffaellino del Garbo | | 14.40.641 | MET |
| The Last Communion of Saint Jerome | Sandro Botticelli | 1495 | 14.40.642 | MET |
| The Holy Family with Saint Mary Magdalen | Andrea Mantegna | 1495 | 14.40.643 | MET |
| Portrait of a Man | Dieric Bouts | 1470 | 14.40.644 | MET |
| Portrait of a Young Man | Antonello da Messina | | 14.40.645 | MET |
| Lady Rich (Elizabeth Jenks, died 1558) | Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger | 1540 | 14.40.646 | MET |
| Madonna and Child | Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio | 1470 | 14.40.647 | MET |
| Portrait of an old man | Hans Memling | 1475 | 14.40.648 | MET |
| Portrait of a Young Man | Cosimo Tura | | 14.40.649 | MET |
| Portrait of Cardinal Filippo Archinto | Titian | | 14.40.650 | MET |
| Bathsheba at her Toilette | Rembrandt | 1643 | 14.40.651 | MET |
| Changing Pasture | Anton Mauve | | 14.40.810 | MET |
| The Ferryman | Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot | 1865s | 14.40.811 | MET |
| Twilight | Anton Mauve | | 14.40.812 | MET |
| A Pond in Picardy | Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot | | 14.40.813 | MET |
| A Path among the Rocks | Théodore Rousseau | | 14.40.814 | MET |
| The Banks of the Oise | Charles-François Daubigny | 1863 | 14.40.815 | MET |
| The Return to the Fold | Anton Mauve | | 14.40.816 | MET |
| A Lane through the Trees | Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot | | 14.40.817 | MET |
| A River Landscape with Storks | Charles-François Daubigny | 1864 | 14.40.818 | MET |
| The Edge of the Woods | Narcisse Virgilio Díaz | 1872 | 14.40.819 | MET |
There is a portrait of Altman in the New York State Museum in Albany; it was painted by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947) and donated to the New York Chamber of Commerce by Altman's business partner Michael Friedsam. Müller-Ury knew Altman personally as a client of art dealer Henry Duveen. He was compelled to paint from a photograph after Altman's death. He first completed a 50 x 40 (inch) portrait of Altman seated in his gallery with a Rembrandt behind him and a Chinese vase on a table beside him, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for whom this had been painted, chose another portrait of Altman by Ellen Emmet Rand also made from a photograph, and Müller-Ury's larger work went to the Foundation offices; it has since disappeared.