Alfred H. Barr, Jr: Missionary for the Modern

Dust jacket notes: "On May 10, 1939, when the museum of Modern Art celebrated the opening of its handsome new home on Manhattan's West Fifty-third Street, it signaled the triumph of modern art and its foremost missionary and defender, Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of that opening, Alice Goldfarb Marquis offers a superlatively entertaining account of MOMA's first director and guiding genius, who transformed a three-room exhibition gallery into a world-famous museum -- and in the process became perhaps the single most powerful influence in the creation of today's art establishment. Handpicked by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller to head a fledgling museum dedicated to the controversial art of the twentieth century, Alfred Barr seemed an unlikely choice. The frail, bespectacled art professor from Wellesley, the son of a Presbyterian minister, was virtually unknown, had no administrative experience, and could hardly be expected to deal successfully in the rapacious, tightly interconnected arena of the international art market. But young Barr proved astonishingly capable, quickly establishing a network of contacts among artists, dealers, influential critics, wealthy patrons, and potential donors. Though limited by a minuscule buying budget, Barr had an unfailing eye for excellence and an unexpected talent for haggling, enabling him to acquire for MOMA the world's finest collection of modern art -- a catalog of masterpieces now valued in the tens of millions of dollars. Mondrian, Rousseau, Braque, Klee, Rodin, Moore, Giacometti, Arp, Picasso, Rothko, Pollock -- Barr's wide-ranging taste encompassed them all. And his carefully planned exhibitions and explanatory notes made them understandable to millions of MOMA's visitors. Nor was Barr's interest limited to the 'fine arts.' Under his direction the museum brought aesthetic standards to the materials of everyday life...."