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historical notes
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Born in Strasbourg in 1898, Curtis O. Baer was a German refugee who resettled in the United States in 1940. Baer's interest in art began during his studies at the University of Freiburg, where he cultivated a deep appreciation for drawings. In the 1950s and 1960s, Baer, a former business executive, became an avid collector with a particular focus on drawings, amassing over 100 works on paper spanning diverse schools and periods.
The Baer collection, carefully assembled through auctions, dealers, and personal contacts in major cities like Paris, London, and Berlin reflects his eclectic taste, which included Old Masters but also twentieth-century modernists. Among the notable artists represented are masters such as Titian, Rembrandt, Delacroix, Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Jacob van Ruisdale, Max Beckmann, Auguste Rodin, Paul Klee, Vassily Kandinsky, Fernand Leger, Henri Matisse, Hans Bol, Peter Paul Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, Antoine Watteau, Jacques-Louis David, Honore Daumier, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Additionally, the collection features unexpected gems, including two gloomy landscapes by the poet-novelist Victor Hugo. His acquisitions have found homes in prestigious institutions worldwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Getty, The Morgan Library, and The National Gallery of Art in Washington. |
