When Joseph McCrindle (1923-2008) was five and growing up in a New York City mansion, his socialite mother dumped her husband and her son and ran off with a count to Europe leaving Joe in the care of her wealthy parents who treated their grandson probably like most treat their grandchildren: “Whenever and whatever you want.”
His grandmother, an "assiduous collector" of art, schooled her grandson from a young age in its purchase.
In his diary entry on June 3, 1931 while in Paris (and noted in the exhibition catalogue), Joe wrote that his grandmother became "furious" with him for a purchase along the Seine of a "Catholic prayer book in a terrible state." "Mademoiselle" made him take it back to the dealer, and "I exchanged it for a guide of Dieppe written in 1905."
Joe spent his allowance on rare books and, during his life, bought more than 2,500 works of art. To the National Gallery of Art, he left more than 300, and 71 which cover the 16th through 20 centuries are on display on the ground floor in the Gallery's West Building in an exhibition entitled The McCrindle Gift: A Distinguished Collection of Drawings and Watercolors. 
McCrindle was a "connoisseur and collector of beautiful things," said Mr. Wheelock. A label at the exhibition calls the art enthusiast a man "who admired works not because of the names of their makers, but for the verve and rhythm of the line and, often, the whimsical nature of the image."
McCrindle traveled constantly, collecting art "like [on] a nonstop shopping spree. He bought to please himself rather than to accumulate an investment portfolio," wrote William Grimes in the New York Times' McCrindle obituary July 18, 2008.
Much more detail on his life (he was the founder of the Transatlantic Review) and the exhibition are found in the distinguished color catalogue available in the National Gallery's gift shops
What: The McCrindle Gift: A Distinguished Collection of Drawings and Watercolors
When: Now through Nov. 25, 2012, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Saturday; 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday, and closed on Christmas Day
Where: The National Gallery of Art, West Building, Ground Floor galleries. (The closest entrance is Seventh Street, NW.) The National Gallery of Art and Sculpture Garden is located at the National Mall along Constitution Avenue and between Third and Ninth Streets.
Where: The National Gallery of Art, West Building, Ground Floor galleries. (The closest entrance is Seventh Street, NW.) The National Gallery of Art and Sculpture Garden is located at the National Mall along Constitution Avenue and between Third and Ninth Streets.
How much: Admission is always free
For more information: (202) 737-4215
Metro station: Judiciary Square, Navy Memorial-Archives, or the Smithsonian
patricialesli@gmail
Posts
