Glorious, Glorious Collectors

Girl With Ruffled Blouse, 1936. Pen and ink drawing by Henri Matisse

They met in Baltimore — Claribel and Etta Cone, Gertrude and Leo Stein — in the late 1890s at Claribel’s Saturday evening salons, two sets of siblings who would amass unrivaled collections of European art during the first half of the 20th century.

From wealthy Jewish families, all four ventured to Paris, the Steins to live abroad for the rest of their lives, the Cones for several long visits. And all met artists who would become their friends and, eventually, icons of modern art.