Facinating insight into art collecting by examining a famous collection and the Arnesberg couple and detailing how the artworks related to each other in their Hollywood home. One of my favorite books in the last few years, with many insights and discoveries.

This comprehensive reconstruction and interpretation of Louise and Walter Arensberg’s groundbreaking collection of modern and pre-Columbian art takes readers room by room, wall by wall, object by object through the couple’s Los Angeles home in which their collection was displayed.

Following the Armory Show of 1913, Louise and Walter Arensberg began assembling one of the most important private collections of art in the United States, as well as the world’s largest private library of works by and about the philosopher Sir Francis Bacon. By the time Louise and Walter died—in 1953 and 1954, respectively—they had acquired some four thousand rare books and manuscripts and nearly one thousand works of art, including world-class specimens of Cubism, Surrealism, and Primitivism, the bulk of Marcel Duchamp’s oeuvre, and hundreds of pre-Columbian objects. These exceptional works filled nearly all available space in every room of their house—including the bathrooms.

The Arensbergs have long had a central role in the histories of Modernism and collecting, but images of their collection in situ have never been assembled or examined comprehensively until now. Presenting new research on how the Arensbergs acquired pre-Columbian art and featuring never-before-seen images, Hollywood Arensberg demonstrates the value of seeing the Arensbergs’ collection as part of a single vision, framed by a unique domestic space at the heart of Hollywood’s burgeoning artistic scene. ( )

Hollywood Arensberg: Avant-Garde Collecting in Midcentury L.A. combines phenomenal photographs and wonderful discussion and explanation. While many Getty books compel one to flip through them regularly and read them periodically (the usual combination for good coffee table type books) this one will warrant as many reads as I can get in before my digital review copy expires.

I think the aspect that most appealed to me was the feeling that I was touring a home from the mid 20th century. Between floor plans, descriptions of what was on which wall or table, and photographs, it was easy to begin to understand the ideas that went into the displays. I want to do this tour many more times.

If that tour aspect was the only thing in the book, which would be quite a bit, I would have been happy. But the essays and interview offered further insight and the history of the Arensbergs, along with a virtual who's who of early 20th century arts and letters, put everything into wonderful historical context as well.

Anyone interested in art and/or art history will enjoy this book on so many levels. If you are mostly interested in interesting coffee table books, you'll be pleased with this one as well since it has the added benefit of being extremely interesting. I don't think you would necessarily have to have a strong interest in either avant-garde or pre-Columbian art to appreciate this volume since so much of the fun is looking at how the art is displayed.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )