This summer, we asked the Library interns to write a short paragraph about their favorite assignment this summer. In a post on September 4, we told you about Emma, Gabrielle and Jessica's favorite task. This week it's Brendan Higgin's turn. Here's what Brendan said he enjoyed the most:
"Our second to last week here at the Jean Outland Chrysler Library, the other interns and I assisted with an ongoing project to trace Walter P. Chrysler Jr.’s life as an art collector and key figure in the Museum’s history. Ultimately the research will be compiled into a database that contains detailed information on Chrysler’s possessions and purchases/sales/donations at different points in his life. Each of chose a decade and, after poring over the Library’s collection of biographies, scrapbooks, and files of newspaper clippings pertaining to Chrysler, constructed a timeline of everything relevant we could find about that period. I researched the 1930s, a period in history and the arts that I find particularly interesting, and became immediately absorbed in the work. The name Walter Chrysler had been somewhat of an enigma to me all summer, and it was fascinating finally to learn some of the details of his life—sometimes controversial, often inscrutable, but always active and aware. His tastes in the '30s were ahead of his time, and thanks to a keen business sense, he built up one of the finest collections of modern art in the world, containing supposedly hundreds of Picassos, as well as pieces by Matisse, Cezanne, Braque, Leger, and Gris (among many other big names of the 20th century). This task, probably more than anything else I did this summer, really deepened my understanding and appreciation of the Chrysler Museum and its art; specifically, I realized the impact Walter Chrysler’s voracious buying during this period has had on the wonderfully varied collections housed in the Museum today."
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