Walter Conrad Arensberg facts for kids

Walter Conrad Arensberg (born April 4, 1878 – died January 29, 1954) was an American art collector, writer, and poet. His father was a part-owner and president of a company that made crucible steel. Walter studied English and philosophy at Harvard University. With his wife Louise (born Mary Louise Stevens; 1879–1953), he collected art and supported many artists.

Early Life and Writings

Walter Arensberg was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest child of Conrad Christian Arensberg and Flora Belle Covert. Walter's father led a successful steel company. Walter went to Harvard University from 1896 to 1900. After graduating, he traveled in Europe for at least two years. In 1903, he returned to Harvard as a graduate student. He did not finish his degree. Instead, he moved to New York City to work as a reporter from 1904 to 1906.

Arensberg's first big book was The Cryptography of Dante (1921). It caused a stir because of its unusual ideas about the text. A newspaper called The New York Evening Journal wrote a full-page review. Its title was "A Shocking Attack on Dante's immortal 'Inferno'."

He then wrote The Cryptography of Shakespeare (1922). In this book, he claimed to find hidden messages in Shakespeare's works. He said these messages, like acrostics and anagrams, showed the name of Francis Bacon. In later books, he used a "key cipher" to find more messages. These messages were linked to the Rosicrucians, a secret society. However, experts like William Friedman and Elizebeth Friedman later showed that his methods were not real cryptographic codes.

Arensberg also published several books of poetry. These included Poems (1914) and Idols (1916). His poem Voyage a l'Infini was included in a famous collection by Edmund Clarence Stedman. His more daring, modern poems appeared in Dada magazines. These magazines included Rogue, The Blind Man, 391, and TNT between 1917 and 1919.

Collecting Modern Art

Between 1913 and 1950, Walter and Louise Arensberg collected art. They bought works by modern artists. These included Jean Metzinger, Marcel Duchamp, Charles Sheeler, Walter Pach, and Beatrice Wood. They also collected Pre-Columbian art from ancient American cultures. Art dealer Earl L. Stendahl helped them.

The Arensbergs became very close friends with Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp even lived in their apartment during the summer of 1915. This was while the Arensbergs were on vacation. They became Duchamp's lifelong supporters. Their collection of his work became the largest and most important.

In 1917, Duchamp wanted to show his artwork Fountain. This was an ordinary bathroom urinal signed "R. Mutt." The Society of Independent Artists rejected it. Both Duchamp and Arensberg then resigned from the society. Many artists and friends visited the Arensberg Salon in Manhattan. A French painter named André Raffray later created a visual artwork. It showed what Chez Arensbergs (the Arensberg home) might have looked like.

Moving to California

In 1921, the Arensbergs moved to Hollywood, California. Louise insisted on the move for health and money reasons. They planned for it to be a short stay. However, they stayed in California for the rest of their lives. They only returned to New York for one year between 1925 and 1926.

They first lived in a guest house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1927, the Arensbergs bought their permanent home. It was on 7065 Hillside Avenue. This house was built in 1920 and designed by William Lee Woollett. Later, they asked architect Richard Neutra to build an addition. This was to house Constantin Brâncuși's bronze sculpture L'Oiseau dans l'espace (1924).

In 1946, artists Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning got married at the Arensbergs' home. It was a double wedding with Juliet Browner and Man Ray. Walter Arensberg also served on the boards of several art organizations. These included the Los Angeles Art Association (1937) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1938–1939). He also helped start new groups. These groups worked to show modern art in California.

The Francis Bacon Foundation

Walter Arensberg was very interested in the writer Francis Bacon. He was especially curious about topics like alchemy, cryptography, and Rosicrucianism. He also studied the debate about who really wrote Shakespeare's plays. This is known as the Shakespeare-Bacon debate.

In 1937, the Arensbergs started the Francis Bacon Foundation in Los Angeles. Their goal was to support research into history, philosophy, science, literature, and art. They focused especially on Francis Bacon's life and works. In 1954, they gave money and their collection of Bacon-related items to the Foundation.

The Foundation's library was in its own building at the Claremont Colleges starting in 1960. The collection grew from 3,500 books to over 16,000. Later, the collection was moved to the Huntington Library in San Marino. It is now called the Francis Bacon Foundation Arensberg Collection.

Art Collection's Legacy

In the 1940s, the Arensbergs began looking for a permanent home for their art collection. In 1941, a group of actors tried to keep the collection in California. In 1944, the Arensbergs made an agreement with the University of California, Los Angeles. The agreement said the University had to build a museum for the collection within a certain time. However, by 1947, it was clear this would not happen, so the agreement was canceled. In 1939, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art also turned down a gift of modern art from the collection.

The Arensbergs then talked with many other museums and universities. These included the Art Institute of Chicago, Harvard University, and the National Gallery. Eventually, they stopped asking that the museum also support the Francis Bacon Foundation. After many talks, the Arensbergs gave their collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This happened on December 27, 1950. The collection had over 1000 objects. It included letters, notes, writings, and photographs. These items showed their art collecting and their friendships with many important artists and writers.

In 1949, the first public exhibition of the Arensberg collection was held. It was at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1996, the Whitney Museum of American Art recreated parts of the Arensbergs' Manhattan apartment. This was for an exhibition called Making Mischief: Dada Invades New York.

A book called 'Hollywood Arensberg' by Mark Nelson, William H. Sherman, and Ellen Hoobler was published in 2020. It shows a detailed reconstruction of the couple’s Los Angeles home and art collection. The book helps us understand their large collection of modern and pre-Columbian art. It also shows their interest in chess and Francis Bacon. The book also highlights their relationships with artists like Marcel Duchamp and Beatrice Wood.