A Gift to America: Masterpieces of European Painting from the Samuel H. Kress Collection
This exhibition catalog of the National Gallery's Kress Collection brings together a superb collection of European paintings amassed by an outstanding American collector. Now that the collection has been dispersed, it is important to have a survey of what it offered. Editor Perry discusses the collection, its origins, and the gift Samuel Kress made to the National Gallery and other museums. The essay on Kress is as fascinating as it is instructive, while Bowron's essay on "The Kress Brothers and Their 'Bucolic Pictures' " is useful in that it examines the formation of the collection of Italian Baroque works. In fact, both essays provide interesting insights on how the collection was created. They are well written, inclusive, and instructive. The reproductions are also excellent. As a source book for an important collection, this volume deserves to be included in every serious art library.- Martin Chasin, Adult Inst., Bridgeport, Ct.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.