IN THE COMPANY OF ART: Belinda Rathbone and Nathaniel Silver

About the Book:

Over the years as the director of the St. Louis Art Museum and later the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Perry T. Rathbone kept a journal. These are his unguarded and spontaneous expressions of the moment, not meant for publication—at least not in his lifetime.

Alone in his study at the end of a day, Rathbone wrote in a large, unlined sketchbook, unloading whatever was fresh on his mind. Whether a meeting at the museum, a business trip, or a party he had just returned from, he wrote about whom he met, what he thought of them, the ambiance, the conversation, the art, the wine, and the food.

About the Author:

Perry T. Rathbone (1911–2000) was one of the leading American art museum directors of the twentieth century. After organizing the “Masterpieces of Art” exhibit at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, Rathbone was appointed director of the St. Louis Art Museum in 1940. In 1955, he became director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston until his retirement in 1972. During his more than three decades at the MFA, Rathbone expanded the museum by 80,000 square feet, doubled its staff, and directed the renovation of 57 of its 189 galleries. He staged exhibitions of Rembrandt, Matisse, Modigliani, Cezanne, van Gogh and Courbet. Rathbone transformed the museum from a quiet repository of art to a vibrant cultural center.

Belinda Rathbone is a biographer and historian who has written widely on 20th- century American art and photography. In addition to The Boston Raphael, she is the author of Walker Evans: A Biography, George Rickey: A Life in Balance, and a memoir, The Guynd. She edited In the Company of Art: A Museum Director's Private Journals by Perry T. Rathbone.

About the Moderator:

Nathaniel Silver is the Associate Director and Chief Curator of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He has curated acclaimed exhibitions in Europe and the United States, among them Titian: Women, Myth, and Power and Boston’s Apollo: Thomas McKeller and John Singer Sargent. With fifteen years of experience in museums and cultural institutions, Nathaniel has also worked at The Frick Collection, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and served as the director of Hancock Shaker Village. He received his Ph.D. from UCL and his MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London.