1912 CATALOGUE Pinacoteca de Brera MILAN inscribed John F. Lewis, Philadelphia

The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of the Brera Academy, which shares the site in the Palazzo Brera. Founded in 1776.

1912 edition of the catalogue “I Disegni Della R. Pinacota Di Brera” listed her has 94 B&W plates (blank on the back of each page) 28 pages including a three page preface by F. Malaguzzi Valeri and 20 pages of descriptions of each plate. Weighs almost a pound.  Measures 6 5/8 x 4 ¾ inches. Written in Italian.

Inscribed to: John Frederick Lewis, Philadelphia. I cannot read the name of the person who gave it to him from Milan-- if you can let me know.

This book 1^st belonged to John Frederick Lewis (1860–1932) who was a prominent Philadelphia lawyer and philanthropist widely active in the business, philanthropic, and cultural circles of the city as well as a respected collector of rare books and fine art. The Lewises had two sons: Alfred Gustavus Baker and John Frederick, Jr., (1899-1968) both of whom became attorneys. In the 1920s, both joined the law firm of Lewis, Adler & Laws.

John F. Lewis Jr. (1899-1965) Maritime lawyer and graduate of the University of PA in 1920, studied economics at Harvard and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar. Mr. Lewis possessed a large art collection and he donated many paintings to art museums in the area. He was president of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1945-1958 and the Philadelphia Art Alliance from 1945-1949, was president of the Mercantile Library, Free Library of Philadelphia. Treasurer of the Atwater Kent Museum and board of managers of the University Museum. Trustee of Moore College of Art and the University of Pennsylvania.

The 2^nd owner was Jon Corbino (see his paintings on this eBay site and his bio/CV) possibly given to Corbino by John F. Lewis, Sr. or his son John  Frederick Jr. (1899-1968) --who owned one of Corbino’s paintings: GRANITE oil on 36 x 42, 1937. Corbino traveled to Philadelphia quite a bit as he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy in the summer with Daniel Garber from 1924-1927 and served on many of the Academy’s juries for their annual exhibition.

Most of the plates are in excellent condition—corners a bit dog eared. The softbound binding has it issues as seen in the images. Jon Corbino used masking tape to secure the binding/spine. I have stabilized the front cover to the 1^st page with LINECO transparent Mending Tissue—pH Neutral and Archival Quality (can be removed with mineral spirits). Although, it is softbound –in 1912 they sewed the pages together. All of the condition issues are related to the back and front cover and spine.

Please forgive the images as I scanned them. The catalogue didn’t lie flat so some are out of focus around the edges and sometimes the margins of the page are cut off. And shadows on many of the images.