Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel

Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America
by Susan Fillion
David R. Godine
83 pages

Etta and Claribel Cone, two wealthy, unmarried sisters in Baltimore's German Jewish community at the turn of the twentieth century, broke new ground when they bought up experimental art by Matisse, Picasso, and other modern painters before the artists were widely recognized. The sisters befriended two other siblings in Baltimore, Leo and Gertrude Stein, and they bonded over their love of seeking and buying new, experimental art. Now, the huge Cone collection is part of the Baltimore Museum of Modern Art.