This publication is devoted to private collectors and their relationships with and gifts to public institutions in the United States. Thirteen authors bring to life the long tradition of private collecting and public philanthropy in America and reveal new insights into the formation of many of its major art institutions. Public-spirited collectors such as Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon, and Solomon and Irene Guggenheim fulfilled their desires by establishing The Frick Collection, the National Gallery of Art, and the Guggenheim Museum, respectively. John G. Johnson’s collection was first left to Philadelphia as a standalone museum, and later fell under the stewardship of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Eleanor and Edsel Ford were instrumental supporters and contributors to the Detroit Institute of Arts. Samuel Putnam Avery was a civic-minded art dealer, adviser, and collector whose porcelain collection helped shape the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Some collectors, including Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, Michael Friedsam, Adelaide de Groot, and Martin A. Ryerson, made significant gifts to pre-existing museums such as The Met and the Art Institute of Chicago. Finally, Robert Gilmor, Jr., and arguably Mary Jane Morgan, had aspirations of building public collections, yet they were not successful for various reasons. “What’s Mine is Yours” celebrates Inge Reist, founding Director and now Director Emerita of the Center for the History of Collecting at the Frick Art Reference Library.

Este libro está dedicado al coleccionismo privado en Estados Unidos y su relación con las instituciones públicas. Al narrar las historias que se esconden tras la creación de muchos de los principales museos de aquel país, trece autores analizan una larga tradición de coleccionismo privado y filantropía. Coleccionistas generosos como Henry Clay Frick, Paul Mellon y Solomon e Irene Guggenheim cumplieron sus sueños creando la Frick Collection, la National Gallery of Art de Washington, DC, y el Guggenheim Museum, respectivamente. John G. Johnson legó a la ciudad de Filadelfia su colección como un museo independiente que quedó más tarde bajo la administración del Philadelphia Museum of Art. El apoyo y la contribución de Eleanor y Edsel Ford fueron clave para el Detroit Institute of Arts. Samuel Putnam Avery era un marchante, asesor y coleccionista con gran conciencia cívica cuya colección de porcelana ayudó a formar el Departamento de Arte Asiático del Metropolitan Museum of Art de Nueva York. Muchos coleccionistas, entre ellos Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, Michael Friedsam, Adelaide de Groot y Martin A. Ryerson, hicieron donaciones significativas a museos ya fundados como el Metropolitan o el Art Institute de Chicago. Por último, el coleccionista Robert Gilmor y seguramente también Mary Jane Morgan aspiraban a construir sendas colecciones públicas, pero por distintas razones no lo consiguieron. “What’s Mine is Yours” es un homenaje a Inge Reist, primera directora y ahora directora emérita del Center for the History of Collecting de la Frick Art Reference Library.