Book review; Aline Meyer Liebman, Pioneer Collector and Artist

my book review of Aline Meyer Liebman, Pioneer Collector and Artist

by Margaret Liebman Berger

This book, by Aline Meyer Liebman's daughter, provides insights and some useful information on a woman who was a photographer, art collector and  practicing artist and also an active, generous patron of the arts. Her love of modern art led her to be an important supporter of Alfred Steiglitz' revolutionary galleries in New York City in the 1920's.

As well as providing indispensable support to Steiglitz, Aline's enthusiasm for modernism led her to be a founder of the New York based Museum of Modern Art, contributing at its creation in 1929 with both finance and her time. She continued to serve MoMA on the museum's committees for many years and remained concerned with the practical expansion of MoMA's remit. In 1948 she made a financial donation specifically for the purchase of photographic works by younger artists.

The book suffers a little from not being professionally put together and published privately. The writing is non-academic and it lacks a bibliography. Nonetheless, as a family tribute it is better than average and the illustrations include some of her photographs and paintings, which are not available elsewhere. The book also has unique value as a reminder of artist and art collector Aline Meyer Liebman. She is one of a few overlooked women whose enthusiastic patronage was vital to the success of modern art in the early years of the twentieth century.
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The book is out of print and I bought a second hand copy via abebooks.com.